Shattered Hearts
by SoraMaiDay
Summary: Have you ever felt a pain in your soul, so deep that it seems as if your very heart is shattering into a million shards? Mai has, and this is her story of trials, friendships, and tribulations. Join her as she discovers her inevitable destiny through Birth by Sleep. - Ven/OC -
1. Prologue

**_Disclaimer: _**_Nothing belongs to me! The awesomeness called Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix. I'm afraid I only own Mai... Please review and enjoy my first fanfic! _

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**_Prologue_**

The starry night sky twinkled fondly as it caressed the young girl laid out beneath its gloriousness. Little did the six-year-old girl below know of the romance and adventure she would experience, nor of the tragedy and heartbreak. For now, she could rest in peace and enjoy the friendships that would soon be blossoming between her and three others, and the bliss and laughter that came with it.

This girl rubbed her eyes sleepily as she awoke to the feeling of being watched. However, it wasn't a bad feeling, for the being looking out at her was more of a comforting, fatherly man, or so she thought. It felt nice to have someone care for her, for once.

"What is your name, child?" The man kneeled down at her side.

The little girl blinked up at the kind man innocently. "I don't remember..."

"Then I shall call you Mai, for you were found on the night of the Dancing Stars." The man held a hand out to her warmly. "Welcome to our home, young one."

Without a second thought, the girl accepted his offered hand, and the two walked inside the castle, where her destiny awaited.

* * *

_Seven years later…_

The blonde girl watched in admiration as two of her friends sparred with each other, leaping into the air and landing powerful strikes as they came back down. She gasped several times as they almost hit one another, and leaned forward in anticipation to see who would be the victor. Clenching her fists, she jumped up on her combat-booted feet as Aqua was knocked to the ground. "Go Aqua! Don't let Terra beat you! You're better than that!"

Aqua shot a quick smile over towards her younger friend, and flipped back to land in a battle stance. Terra slouched and groaned in annoyance. "C'mon now, Mai! Whose side are you on, anyway?"

Mai shot back a cheeky smile as she sat back down. "The winner's one; obviously." Master Eraqus, who had been watching the two train, rolled his eyes. Young Mai still had a lot to learn if she wanted to become a keyblade master. Master Eraqus then stood up, and brushed his robes of imaginary dust.

"Enough, you two. Give Mai a chance to practice, now. She still hasn't been able to summon a keyblade, and yet I know she has the power to. The purity of her heart tells me this." He beckoned Mai to come over to the middle of the room. She sighed before sullenly getting up. It wasn't as if she didn't want a keyblade; it just never appeared in her hand. No matter how hard Mai tried, her heart's power remained stubbornly locked.

It had been a year since they had attempted to retrieve the keyblade for the first time, and there was still no progress. Sure, Mai was skilled with her double fans, but that wasn't anywhere near a keyblade skill level. Aqua and Terra moved respectfully out of the way, whispering, "Good luck!" and "I know you can do it." Mai gave them a weak smile, before readying herself to delve deep into her heart.

As all the times before, Mai closed her eyes and imagined herself traveling through the dark passage that led to the source of her power. However, an invisible wall blocked her path, as per usual. She cried out in frustration, and came back out to her hopeful friends. Mai shook her head in disappointment. No luck this time.

Before anyone could say anything, they all heard a door creak open. Mai, glad for the distraction, rushed over to the balcony to see who was interrupting. She looked down to see a creepy-looking man and an emotionless boy. There was something eerily familiar about the older man, so she changed her focus to the boy. He had blonde hair, just like hers, and yet, there was something different about him. Something wrong. He almost seemed… empty. As if all of his hopes and dreams, emotions and feelings had been taken from him. This was a broken boy.

Master Eraqus walked down to greet his guests cautiously. He exchanged nods with the old stranger and they proceeded back up the stairs, presumably to discuss who the boy was and what happened to him. Mai, too impatient to wait for the full story, decided to go down and find it out from his own mouth. She jumped off the balcony and landed right in front of him, ignoring Aqua's sound of warning. The poor guy didn't even show any surprise, and just looked up at her emotionlessly. At that moment, Mai made a promise to her self to make him feel again; no matter what it took. "Hi, I'm Mai! What's your name?"

She cocked her head to the side and made sure to smile warmly at him. He looked back down and said quietly, "Ventus." At that moment, Terra had come down to talk to the newcomer as well. The brunette teen stepped back in astonishment.

"You can talk!" He exclaimed in surprise. Terra turned back around to face Aqua, who had been leaning over the railing in curiosity. "Aqua, c'mere!"

A smile stretched across the bluenette's face and she dashed down the stairs. She stopped in front of Ventus and gave a basic introduction. "I'm Aqua, and this is Terra, who forgot to introduce himself. Please forgive his rudeness." Terra rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, glaring at Aqua. Mai let loose a snicker.

Ventus looked up at each of them. "Mai… Terra… Aqua…." Mai's entire countenance lifted up.

"You remember my name!" She leaned forward and hugged him excitedly. "Yay! Good boy." Terra sent her an amused glare, while Aqua pulled her back reprovingly.

"Don't tackle him. He could get overwhelmed." Aqua hissed quietly in her ear. Mai nodded, but didn't regret her actions. Ventus looked like he needed some cheering up. "Oh, he's fine. Aren't you, Ven?"

The blondes just looked at each other, both waiting for a response. "Or not." Mai muttered under her breath. To clear the awkward silence that followed, Terra voiced a question. "Are you coming to train with us?" When no answer followed, he asked another. "Where are you from?" Mai examined the boy more. He was looking more and more confused by the second.

"Who's that man with you? Are you good with a keyblade?" Terra continued. At this point, Ventus was shaking and making pained sounds.

Mai glowered at Terra. "Can't you see you're stressing him out? Stop it!"

Terra snorted. "Says the person who manhandled him earlier." The two friends crossed their arms and speared each other with their eyes. Abruptly, Ventus fell to the floor, clutching his head and yelling in anguish. Mai stepped back, eyes wide in shock. What happened?

"Are you okay?" Aqua asked in concern. Mai knelt down next to him, not knowing what to do, and yet wanting to help. Behind them, a voice angrily demanded, "What did you do?" Mai glared up at the stranger. Surely, he had had a part in Ventus' suffering, for he had a glint of evil amber in his eyes and no concern shown on his face. Master Eraqus stood a few feet behind him.

"Nothing, I-I just asked him some stuff!" Terra stammered, with only a hint of guilt in his voice. The yellow-eyed man kneeled to the marble floor and picked Ventus up, as if daring them all to say something. Master Eraqus then stepped forward, looking each of them in the eye seriously.

"Ventus cannot tell you anything," He stated simply, "because he cannot remember anything." Mai gasped in empathy, tears welling up in her eyes. Poor Ven… She remembered how that felt, to have no access to your memories. It had happened to her as well. In fact, no one knew where Mai had come from; only that Master Eraqus had found her outside the castle of the Land of Departure.

Mai stood up shakily, wiping her eyes. "I'll keep him safe. I know how it feels to not know anything of your past; of your family and friends, nor of your world. I promise to help him in any way that I can." She vowed determinedly.

Somehow, that statement rendered Master Eraqus speechless. Their Mai was growing up and finally beginning to understand what it meant to become a true master of the keyblade. He turned back towards the stairs with a cough. "I'll trust you to take care of him, then."

Mai nodded importantly. Her heart had never been more sincere than it was at that moment. The light fought against the heart's barriers and pounded against the chains guarding it. With a blast of pure white, the shine burst from her heart, incinerating the lock and emitting outwards from her body. Everyone in her presence had to look away and cover their eyes to avoid being blinded. When the intense glow had faded, Aqua was the first to look back at her adopted sister. In Mai's right hand was a keyblade, still glimmering with pure light.

This would only be the beginning of what would come to be an epic adventure.


	2. Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

**_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts:Birth By Sleep, once again, does not belong to me. It belongs to Square Enix. I only own Mai._**

**_Enjoy!_**

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**_Chapter 1: The Journey Begins_**

It had been two years since that fateful day, and Mai was now an experienced keyblade wielder. She wasn't at the Master level yet, but she was getting pretty close to her final exam. At the moment, though, she was curled up on her side on top of the bed, looking out the window at the moon.

So much time had passed, and all too quickly. There had been many happy memories made, and yet Mai couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was to come. There had been too much peace, but wasn't that how it was supposed to be?

Mai rolled over onto her back, before giving a cry of annoyance. She gave up; it was too hard to sleep on a night with so much going on at the dawn of the next day. Throwing the covers away, she swung her legs off the side of the bed. _Good thing I hadn't changed_, Mai thought with a small smile as she slipped her shoes on. As usual, she had her red beret nestled into her dirty blonde hair, with a blue and white striped scarf wrapped around her neck. A baggy black tank blouse decorated her torso, with a sky blue "X" across the front **(Because ALL of the Keyblade wielders have "X's" on their fronts. Seriously, check it out)**. A red tank top lay underneath the baggy shirt, and a thick, dark red ribbon stretched around her waist; two bows tied on either side of her hips. On her left hip laid a small, navy blue and brown pouch, in which she tended to stuff random items in. As of now, there was a toothbrush, her keychain, a half-eaten piece of toast, and a picture of her and Ventus talking. Mai grinned as she looked at the image, before stuffing it quickly back into her pouch, and moving on to the rest of her outfit to make sure everything was in place.

Her white, elbow-length, fingerless gloves were there; ending with ruffles and a blue bow tied around each elbow joint. On her left shoulder, down to her elbow, lay a single piece of white armor. Near the top of this metal piece lay a purple button, although Mai had no idea what it did. Mai's side skirts, much like Aqua's, had a total of four layers of ruffles; fading from light blue to black. Black, skin-tight leggings, also Aqua's length, clung to her thighs, and white socks reached up to meet them; only leaving a gap of skin in between. Finally, red combat boots were laced up to just below her knees. Mai nodded in satisfaction, it was perfect.

Standing up, she walked out the door, intent on heading outside. However, right as Mai stepped out into the hallway, she was knocked over by an overexcited Ventus. Mai let out a yelp as she fell hard onto her back. **_That_**_ would leave a bruise in the morning_, she thought in annoyance. Getting ready to yell at her best friend for making her fall, Mai looked up at the boy who was currently sprawled half on top of her. Luckily for him, she was rendered speechless by their amazingly awkward position. Mai's cheeks glowed bright pink as she struggled to get Ventus off of her. It was a little known, well, not at ALL known fact that she had a teensy, weensy crush on Ventus. Well, maybe not so tiny as she thought.

"Ventus! Get off me! What the heck are you doing running around the hallways like a rabid squirrel? Terra would murder you if you woke him up!" Mai growled, still struggling. Ventus' adorable spiked head popped up as he rolled off of her.

"Whoops! Sorry, Mai. Didn't mean to crash into you…" He laughed sheepishly. "But there's a meteor shower outside! There hasn't been one in ages!" Ventus opened his eyes wide and grinned. Mai felt her heart stop for a second at his cute expression. "Besides," he continued, "what are _you _doing out so late?"

Maii shrugged. "Couldn't sleep, so I was planning on going outside to watch the stars."

"Great! Let's go together, then." Ventus reached out his hand and pulled her up. He then proceeded to run off, forcing her to haphazardly trot behind him. Mai let out a chuckle, and decided to just let him drag her along. Eventually, they broke out to the grassy patio and collapsed onto the green surface, laughing their eyes out.

After a few minutes, the last of the giggles subsided, and they were left staring up at the sky. "Wow…" Ventus said in awe. Several white lights trailed across the navy darkness, leaving little tails behind them before they disappeared. "Why does this seem so familiar?" He muttered to himself.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe because we've done this before?" Mai snickered, giving him a little shove.

"Hey!" Ventus complained, trying to hold back a smile. "Don't act all smart with me, Mai! We both know you're not."

"Ouch. That hurt, Ven. Right here." Mai gestured at her heart, pouting. Her blonde companion shook his head in amusement, and they both continued to watch the sky. However, they must have fallen asleep, because the next thing Mai knew, she was standing in pitch darkness.

* * *

"Hello?" Mai called out, stretching her eyes for any speck of light. "Is anyone there?" After hearing no response, she walked forward hesitantly. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"This is no joke, this is a cold premonition of what's to come." A villainous voice sounded, cackling. "Enjoy your time in the light, sweetheart, because the rest of your life will be spent in the deepest darkness there is, all alone."

"Who's there?" Mai demanded again, turning around irritatedly. "Quit saying stupid stuff that we both know won't EVER happen. Show yourself!"

The voice only continued to laugh madly. "Poor little Mai, all lost and alone. Wasn't your dream to have eternal friendship? What a silly child. Are your friends your power?" The voice mocked. "I guess this means you'll be powerless, because they'll all desert you soon."

"No…" Mai whispered desperately. "I won't believe it…" Tears blurred her vision. "NO!" She shouted into the black nothingness. "They would never abandon me, never! I trust them with all of my heart, and my heart has never led me astray!"

The voice sneered, "Think again, sweetie. Enjoy your little fantasy world while it lasts." With that, the blackness melted away into reality.

* * *

Mai jolted up, breathing heavily with fear, then fell back when she realized that she was still safe and sound at the Land of Departure. Man, that was one scary nightmare. It had seemed so real, but was it really that tangible? _Think happy thoughts, _Mai scrunched her eyes shut, _about potatoes, and ice cream, and milkshakes, and steak, and food, and more food…_

Her thoughts got cut off with the sound of footsteps. Mai twisted around to see her adopted older sister, Aqua, coming toward the two of them. The bluenette smiled at her, before holding a finger to her lips, and pointing at Ven. He was still slumbering away, and Mai held back a laugh. Ventus was so adorable with everything he did; it wasn't even funny. Aqua sent her a knowing look, as if to say, "Your secret's safe with me." The blonde girl looked away rapidly. Were her feelings that obvious?

As she continued to focus on Ven's face, his nose began to twitch. His eyes slowly opened as he let out a huge yawn. "Welcome back to the real world, Ven." Said boy looked up to see Aqua leaned over him, and jumped to his feet in surprise.

"Woah!"

"Honestly, Ven, you are such a klutz." Mai shook her head in amusement. Aqua giggled in agreement.

"Aw, give me a break, Aqua!" He looked over at Mai as well. "You too, Mai. Cut me some slack!"

"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead." Aqua said, her laughter fading away. "You know, you should have at least brought a blanket."

"But…" Ven hesitated. "Did I really dream that place up? It really felt like I'd been there before, looking up at the stars." Mai furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What was he talking about?

Aqua reached out and ruffled Ven's hair. " 'Cept you've always lived here with us." She shot Mai a mini-glare, daring her to disagree. The blonde girl bit her lip to keep herself from releasing any vital information about Ventus' past. It was better that way.

"Yeah… I know." He walked over to the edge of the balcony and sat down. Aqua and Mai exchanged glances meaningfully before following him over. They all sat in a row, side by side. "Hey, Aqua, Mai? You ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?"

"Ven… That's deep. I'm so proud of you!" Mai poked him once, getting a half-hearted smile. She then focused and went back into serious mode. "I've never really thought about it…"

Aqua said thoughtfully, "Well, they say-"

"That every star up there is another world." A deeper voice sounded behind them. Mai jumped in surprise, almost falling off the edge. Ven grabbed onto her shirt and pulled her back up. "Thanks." She said in embarrassment.

"Terra, you really shouldn't scare people when they're sitting on a cliff." Mai reprised him. Terra only smirked, before continuing his little spiel.

"Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."

"Okay, let's ignore what Mai just said so we can keep speaking and sound super mysterious and wise. Sounds great." Mai crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her tongue. Terra rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out right back at her. Mai laughed inwardly at his uncharacteristic action.

"What? I don't get it." Ventus whined, his blue puppy dog eyes looking up at his idol. Mai smacked her face with a hand.

"In other words, they're just like you, Ven." Terra replied.

"What does _that _mean?" Ven demanded.

"You'll find out someday, I'm sure." Terra replied dramatically, purposely teasing Ven.

"I wanna know now!" Ven pleaded.

Terra smirked. "You're too young to know now." Of course, this brought forth another response from Ventus. He clenched his fists.

"Quit treating me like a kid!" Aqua and Mai looked at each other, then burst out laughing. It was just too funny.

"Hey," Terra protested, "what are you two laughing at? Mai, you're just as young as he is!" Mai stuck her tongue out again at him. Terra sweatdropped. "And there you go again with the tongue."

"I can't help it. You two would make the weirdest brothers." Aqua remarked. Mai stared at her blankly.

_Where did THAT come from? _Mai wondered. _I guess if Aqua and I are adopted sisters, than that makes Terra and Ven adopted brothers. Brothers fight all the time, right? Wouldn't that make Terra and Ven _normal_ siblings?_

Terra crossed his arms over his chest, while Ven put his hands behind his head. "Huh?" Evidently, they were both as confused as Mai was. However, as usual, they all ended up laughing yet again. _This is so cheesy, _Mai smiled, _but it feels so right. _

* * *

After a few minutes had passed by, the quartet went and sat down on the edge of the balcony once more. "Don't you try any funny business, Terra," Mai said warily, "I'm keeping my eye on you."

Terra was about to respond when Aqua cut him off. "Oh yeah!" She stood up. "Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow. I made us good luck charms." In the bluenette's hands hung four star-shaped figures in all different colors; orange, green, blue, and purple.

"Wow! They're so pretty." Mai exclaimed excitedly, jumping to her feet. "Please tell me one of them is for me!"

Aqua put a hand to her mouth and let out a snort. "No, Mai. The fourth one is for Master Eraqus." Although Mai knew her sister was joking, she still pretended to be really let down. Ventus looked back and forth between them.

"Aqua, was that really necessary?" Terra and Aqua exchanged knowing looks as Mai fumbled with her pouch awkwardly.

"Thanks, Ven." Mai whispered, half-hoping he wouldn't hear her. It was nice to know he cared.

"Oh, Ven, Mai; you know I was joking." With that, Aqua tossed the orange star to Terra, the green one to Ven, and the purple star to Mai. "Here."

"I get one too?" Ven's face lit up. This time, Aqua chose not to respond to what was an admittedly stupid question.

"Of course. One for each of us." The quartet gathered in a square formation and each held out their new gifts in one hand. "Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit, and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection." Aqua began to walk away. "So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other."

Mai's lower lip quivered. "Aqua…" She clutched the star to her chest as a liquid orb traveled down her cheek. They had no idea how much this meant to her, especially due to her dark premonition of what was to come.

Aqua walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "I want us to always be close friends, forever. Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had."

"Th-they're beautiful." Mai wiped her eyes. "Thank you."

Ventus was touched by the deep emotion that his friend was showing. _Did Mai really care about them that much? _**  
**

"Oy, sometimes you're both such girls." Terra said embarrassedly. Aqua put her hands on her hips.

"Hey, what do you mean, 'sometimes'?" Aqua retorted.

Ven piped up. "I always think of Mai as a girl." At everyone's stares, he quickly added on. "And Aqua, of course." Since the other three continued to stare at him, Ven quickly changed the subject. "So, these aren't real good luck charms?"

Aqua caught on to his little subject change, and decided to go along with it for his sake. The poor teen was turning into a gibbering fool already. "Well, that's yet to be seen. But I did work a little magic on it."

Mai and Ven spoke at the same time, "Really? What?" They awkwardly laughed, and took a step away from each other.

"An unbreakable connection." Aqua held up her Wayfinder, letting the moonlight shine through it. Mai copied her and stuck hers in the air as well. The purple glimmered mysteriously in the night, and Ventus felt compelled to raise his star too. The quartet stood there for a while, waiting for Terra to copy their actions. He just crossed his arms and smirked.

"Terra! You're such a party pooper." Mai complained, quite rightfully in her mind. Ven agreed with a deft nod of his head. Terra just shrugged and turned towards the castle.

"Hey, I'm going to head back." The blue haired keyblader followed him swiftly.

"Me too. See you tomorrow, guys!" The couple speedily receded into the castle, leaving the remaining blondes to wonder, _what the heck was that about?_

There was an extended silence that followed their departure. Neither knew what to say, so both looked down at the ground. Finally, Mai raised her voice. "Hey, thanks for dragging me along with you. It was actually pretty fun."

Ventus looked up into her twinkling green eyes. "No problem." He beamed. "Let's do it again sometime, maybe just the two of us."

At this, a smile stretched Mai's face to the limit. She bounced once on the balls of her feet. "Yeah, I'd like that." She paused before adding on, "For now, though, maybe it's time we hit the hay."

The two walked back slowly to their rooms, wanting to savor the atmosphere. All was quiet, until Ven popped out a curious question. "What does hit the hay mean? Honestly, how does that make any sense? We don't have any hay in the Land of Departure; I'm pretty sure of it." Mai inwardly face-palmed herself. She had been so looking forward to sleep. Guess that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

* * *

_That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars._

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**_If you guys have any questions about Mai or where I'm planning to go with this story, feel free to message me :) Also, if you'd like me to add a character in at some point, I'd be happy to. Just give me a basic description, and I might find a way to incorporate them. Stay tuned!_**_  
_


	3. Chapter 2: The Mark of Mastery

_**Disclaimer: Once again, Kingdom Hearts in no way belongs to me. I own Mai, and that's really it. Enjoy!**_

**_Chapter 2: The Mark of Mastery_**

In a tower far away, a bearded man spoke to his apprentice with a note of foreboding in his tone. "Mickey, I cannot shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen…" The two looked out the window at the stars, trying to see what terrible event would happen, and where. They received no answers.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Land of Departure, Mai had just woken up. She yawned and stretched as she sleepily stumbled out of bed. After Ven's nonstop questions, Mai had finally been able to sleep, for a grand total of… how many hours? She grabbed her clock and squinted at it for the time. With a gasp, Mai realized that Aqua and Terra's Mark of Mastery exam was due to start at any minute. Once again, she was glad that she had slept in her clothes.

Mai darted out of the room, only to realize that she had forgotten her double fans. These metal fans were rimmed with blades, and they were the only items she had been found with. She just couldn't leave them behind! As she tucked them under the ribbon around her waist, they reminded her of her other cherished weapon; the Dreams Light keyblade. **(I'll upload an image on my deviantart account… Eventually.)**

Just to be reassured that she could still summon it, Mai held her right hand out and imagined it appearing. With a shimmer of light sparkles, the weapon arrived in her firm grip. Mai loved her keyblade, because it looked so mystical and unique with all of the swirls and colors that made it up. It faded from pale blue, to yellow, to white throughout the weapon, and ended with a pair of wings as the handle. The keychain was a crystal blue heart, dangling from a silver chain attached to the handle.

Fully confident now, Mai exploded from her room and pelted towards the castle.

* * *

Ventus was tapping his foot impatiently, looking towards the door every so often. _Where could she be?_

Master Eraqus was getting a little steamed as well. "If young Mai doesn't come within one minute, we are starting without her." Aqua and Terra stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room under the scrutinization of Master Xehanort's yellow eyes. With a sigh, Master Eraqus started to stand up from his throne, when the door burst open.

"I'm here!" Mai panted, adjusting her beret. "Sorry I'm late, Master Eraqus." Ven gave a relieved smile; good, she had made it. Mai trotted over to where her blonde friend was standing, and nodded at Aqua and Terra. "Good luck, you two!"

While Aqua smiled in response, Terra nodded and made a "hush" sign with his hand. Master Xehanort moved his glare over to the two blondes, specifically at Ventus. A confused Mai looked back and forth between the two. Why would Xehanort (for she refused to call him a Master) be making eye contact with his former apprentice, whom Mai was sure he had abused? She took a step forward protectively in front of her best friend, glaring with all her might at Xehanort. He only looked at Mai for a second, before smirking and turning his attention back to the two being tested.

"Hey, what was that about?" Ven whispered. Mai just shrugged and shushed him. He pouted a bit, but soon got over the matter as the test began.

Master Eraqus stood in front of them all importantly. "Today, you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one, but to of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates, but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy – not a test of wills, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail, or neither, but I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark." Xehanort nodded once in affirmation. "I trust you are ready?"

The two replied, "Yes, Master." Master Eraqus then drew his keyblade out and let it glow with light.

"Then let the examination begin." Orbs of light appeared around the area, and the two examinees pulled out their keyblades and slid into battle stances. Just as they were getting ready to fight the light, the balls began to writhe with a dark purple substance. "What?" Eraqus gaped. This was not of his doing.

Mai looked suspiciously over at Xehanort. It was his fault, she was sure of it. Aqua and Terra, deciding to ignore this new occurrence, rushed forward and began attacking them anyways. Mai had been about to cheer, but realized that her shout could be distracting. Therefore, she shut her mouth and continued to watch, until one of the orbs moved haltingly towards the two blondes.

"Ven! Mai! Watch out!" The two summoned their keyblades and Ven slashed down at the orb.

"Don't worry about us!" Mai called cheerfully as Ven nodded. "You two focus on the exam!"

"But you're both in danger here! Go wait in your rooms!" Aqua retorted, glancing around furtively at the enemies that seemed to have multiplied.

"No way!" Ven growled. "I – we've been looking forward to this – seeing you two become Masters. I'm not going to miss it now!"

"And if you think I'm running away to hide, than think again. You know me better than that!" Mai teased as she ran forward to attack an orb. "Hey Ven! Bet I can get more than you!"

"Heh, no way!" The two then began hitting the orbs as fast as they could.

"This is not a game, Ventus, Mai!" Master Eraqus shouted with a small sweatdrop.

"They can take care of themselves." Terra said in amusement. "They've been out there training just as hard as us."

"Stay sharp, you two!" Aqua called out. The four attacked furiously with all their might. At one point, Mai banished Dreams Light and pulled out her two metal fans. Smiling evilly, she went back into the fray and slashed with both hands.

After a while, the orbs vanished. "Hah! That was fun!" Mai crowed, turning towards Ven with a grin. "Beat ya, Venny!"

"I can't believe I lost to a girl!" Ventus slumped over.

"EXCUSE ME?" Mai narrowed her eyes. "Are you making a sexist reference to my gender? How rude. I thought better of you, Ventus." She turned her nose up in the air snobbishly.

Ven tried to protest, "You know I didn't – "

Master Eraqus decided to cut off the two younger apprentices' spat. "That was unexpected, but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. This brings us to your next trial. Now, Terra and Aqua, the two of you will face each other in combat." Master Eraqus sat down in his chair. "Remember, there are no winners – only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed. Begin!"

Mai and Ventus leaned forward in anticipation, their fists clenched tightly. Aqua and Terra ran straight at each other, and the sound of metal clashing made Mai wince. This was just a test; it would never happen in a real life situation; Mai was certain.

Aqua quickly retaliated with a swing of her keyblade, which Terra blocked. The two then leapt away from each other in order to gain some distance. The rest of the battle went by in a blur of swings and back flips to get out of the line of attack. There was one close call, however, where Aqua nearly hit Terra in the chin with the tip of her keyblade. Terra's expression of surprise was priceless, and Mai hid a snicker. The event that followed efficiently cut off her laughter.

Running straight at Terra, Aqua pulled back her weapon for a final swing. Terra, not knowing what to do, accidentally summoned some purple gas. Mai was taken aback; wasn't that the same stuff that had been in the orbs?

Realizing that he had used the power of darkness, Terra speedily banished it and raised his keyblade to block Aqua's attack. No one saw the smile creeping up on Xehanort's face. No one, that is, except for Mai. She suspected the darkness had a connection to Xehanort, and unsurprisingly, she was correct. Mai swore that she would find out what the creepy guy was planning, because she was sure it wasn't good.

The duo continued their fight, and stopped when Master Eraqus waved his hand. Aqua and Terra stood next to one another as they nervously awaited their decision. Mai and Ven stayed where they were, but called out encouragements. "You both did great!"

"Yeah! Nice job!" Ven cheered. They both fell silent when Master Eraqus began speaking authoritatively.

"We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, you have both performed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery. Terra, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all. " Master Eraqus turned towards Aqua. "Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Master, you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instruction." Xehanort and Master Eraqus then walked away, discussing something in low voices.

Guilt was displayed all over Aqua's countenance. "Hey…" Ven came over, followed by Mai.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Ven said sadly, his blue eyes looking up at his idol. From personal experience, Mai knew that apologies would not help the matter. It would only make him feel worse.

"Okay, so you failed this time," Mai walked to stand in front of him, forcing him to make eye contact, "but there's always next time. And next time, we know you will be prepared, because I'll make sure of it." She put her hands on her hips. "Okay, Terra?"

"The darkness… Where did it come from?" Terra asked himself, looking down despondently. "But thanks, Mai." He smiled weakly. Said girl nodded.

"We're always here for you, Terra. Never forget that."

"Sorry, but I need some time alone." Terra walked away without so much as a good-bye, leaving his friends behind.

* * *

After a few minutes of worrying about Terra, Mai made a noise of frustration and followed his path. "Screw being alone, Terra. You need a friend." Ven began to jog after her, but Aqua held him back.

"One friend is enough, for now. I need to go talk to Master Eraqus. See you later?" Ven nodded. This day wasn't going as well as he had hoped.

* * *

Mai was about to open the doors to the patio, when she heard voices. She stopped and held her ear against the door, stretching her hearing to the limit.

"…. Strong enough to hold it back." That was Terra's voice! Mai listened harder.

"Yes… You are indeed strong. The darkness is nothing to fear." Mai let out a growl. The stupid baldy was putting nonsense into her friend's mind. Terra couldn't possibly believe that, could he?

"Master Xehanort!" Terra said in surprise.

"And yet," Xehanort continued, "how frustrating that Eraqus refutes its power. Why, you could train with him forever and still…" Baldy walked down the stairs. "You'd never be a Master in his eyes."

Mai crossed her arms in fury. That was enough! She slammed open the doors, seething with anger. "Terra! Do you honestly believe that to be true? Don't trust Xehanort. He has a sense of darkness about him. Don't forget what he did to Ven!"

Xehanort laughed loudly. "My, such anger you have. Such… darkness." Mai narrowed her eyes.

"I don't walk in the shadows, Xehanort. That's your job."

Terra interrupted their verbal battle. "Mai, go back to your room. Master Xehanort, help me understand. What is it that I have failed to learn?"

"WHY does EVERYONE tell me to go to my freaking room? I'm staying right here." Mai hissed stubbornly. "And you haven't failed to learn anything, Terra! If you have, it's because you listen to the garbage that this hunchback tells you!"

"Go away, child. Leave us to talk in peace." Xehanort growled.

"No." Mai simply stated.

Xehanort grinned evilly. "Then I guess I'll have to make you leave." With that, he opened a portal of darkness underneath her, and Mai disappeared into it with a scream of fear.

"Terra!"

The last thing she saw were Xehanort's narrowed yellow eyes, glinting with mirth at her fading form.

* * *

_**Oooooh! What happened to Mai? You'll find out... Eventually XD **_

**_I hope that my few readers are enjoying this story, and I'd like to thank KeybladeMasterofDreams and .Ookami for being my first reviewers! It really means a lot to me :)_**

**_I don't know when the next chapter will be posted, because I have school until Thursday. I'll do my best to keep them coming, though!_**

**_- SoraMaiDay_**


	4. Chapter 3: Farewell

**_Disclaimer: __I am once again admitting that Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me. It it did, than I would have made BBS end more happily._**

**_Chapter 3: Farewell_**

Terra looked around frantically. "Where did you take her?" He summoned his keyblade threateningly. Xehanort merely threw his head back and laughed.

"She was being a disobedient child, so I sent her to her room like you asked. You can trust me, Terra." The teen looked at him distrustfully, but then dematerialized his keyblade. Master Xehanort was Master Eraqus' friend, after all. "As for your question, you haven't failed to learn anything. You are fine as you are. Darkness cannot be destroyed. It can only be channeled."

"Yes. Thank you, Master." Terra stood to attention, but got distracted when a bell began ringing. He turned and ran back up the stairs, as Master Xehanort walked into the middle of the courtyard, and into a portal of darkness.

"That girl had better not mess up my plans."

* * *

At the same time in another part of the castle, Ventus lay on his bed; finally having gone back to his room. In his hand was a wooden keyblade that Terra had given him a year or so ago. He swung at the air in boredom, vanquishing imaginary opponents. Ventus stopped when he heard a loud clanging noise, and sat up in curiosity. He ran towards the doorway, and halted when a voice sounded from behind him.

"Better hurry, Ventus." A male spoke darkly.

Ven turned around slowly. This was beyond creepy. A guy in a black mask was leaned against his orange desk. "Huh? Who are you?"

"Or you'll never see Terra, or your little girlfriend again." He finished.

"What? Get real." Ventus crossed his arms. "I can see Terra anytime I want. Mai is here too; always has been." Ven realized something. "Hey! She's not my girlfriend!"

The masked boy let out a low sneer, and disregarded the little girlfriend statement. "Like right now? He's leaving you behind. Mai's already gone too, taken by the darkness. By the time you catch up, Terra'll be a different person, and Mai will be alone, forever."

These words brought a wave of panic onto the blonde, but he forced it down and looked at the masked boy defiantly. "Look – whoever you are – you don't know the first thing about Terra _or _Mai. The four of us will always be a team. You trying to pick a fight, or what?"

"Oh, grow up. Is that what you call friendship?" The figure got up and walked towards another corner of the room. "You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself. " The masked boy turned dramatically and faced Ventus. "Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?" With that, the masked boy opened a portal and stepped into it. Ventus struggled for a comeback.

"W-well at least I don't wear a skirt!" He shouted stupidly before sighing. That guy had really freaked him out. Maybe he should go check if what he said was true. After all, Terra left and Mai went after him to cheer him up. He hadn't seen either of them since then.

A memory popped up in his mind, and felt a twinge of nostalgia as he remembered it. Ventus and Terra had been practicing with their swordsmanship, back to back. Ven had looked back at Terra for reassurance, and the older teen turned and gave him a smile and a nod.

This memory was followed by another one of Terra scolding him for something. Ventus had looked at the ground with tears scalding his eyes, when Terra ruffled his hair affectionately, and apologized for being too harsh with his words.

Another memory followed that one. Ventus had fallen asleep at the dinner table, and then had woken up to Mai's face right in front of his. He had gasped, and fallen out of his chair. She had smiled widely at him, and then had thrown some mashed potatoes at his face. This had caused a food fight between the duo, and ended up with them getting dish duty for the rest of the week.

Ven remembered sitting next to Terra and Mai, laughing his head off at something funny the girl had said. Aqua had been gone that day, training with the Master.

Finally, one last memory stayed in his mind. Ven and Mai had been sitting together outside; their feet dangling off the edge of the cliff.

_"Hey," _Mai had said, _"you're the best friend I've ever had, Ven."_

Ventus had felt his whole body grow warm. _"Yeah, I'm glad I met you. You're the best friend I've ever had too." _He had turned towards her then. _"Best friends forever?"_

Mai nodded shortly. _"Yeah, always." _The two had then rested in a comfortable silence, both glad that they had voiced their thoughts. After that, Ven knew his feelings toward his fellow blonde had grown past the best friend level.

Pain stretched across his heart. Were they really gone? "Mai! Terra!" He blurted out, as he left his room for the final time to search for them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Terra rushed into the hall where Aqua was. "What's going on?"

Aqua merely shook her head. "I don't know… Why aren't Ven and Mai here?"

Terra widened his eyes. "Mai's not here?" Maybe she had been sleeping, and didn't hear the alarm. That must be it.

Any response Aqua might have had was cut off by Master Eraqus' voice talking to the mysterious light behind the thrones. "Very well then, I will send my pupils to investigate." There was a pause. "Yes, I understand. Farewell."

As Master Eraqus walked towards the two adults, they stood at attention. "That was my dear old friend, Yen Sid. As you know, he is Master no more, but he still keeps a close eye on the tides of light and darkness. His counsel serves as signposts on the road we wielders of the Keyblade must walk. All the more reason, then, for concern – for he tells me the princesses of heart are in danger. Not only from the forces of darkness, as you may assume, but also from a new threat – one that feeds on negativity. Fledgling emotions that have taken monster form – Yen Sid calls them the 'Unversed.' As wielders of the Keyblade, you are tasked with striking down any who would upset the balance of light and darkness. The Unversed are no exception. I tried to pass this news on to Master Xehanort, but my repeated attempts to reach him have failed. I doubt there is any connection, and yet… This all troubles me. "

Terra furrowed his eyebrows. "Master Xehanort is gone?"

"So, here we are. I need you two to get this situation under control. Eliminate the Unversed and find Master Xehanort." He looked at both of his pupils. "I have unlocked the Lanes Between. You may use these forbidden pathways to travel between this world and countless others. The darkness looms closer than usual within these places, but your armor will protect you. Lastly, remember that order must be kept. You cannot tell anyone there are other worlds. Now go, and fulfill your duty." Master Eraqus said with finality in his tone.

"Yes, Master." The two said seriously. Terra turned to leave, but was stopped by the Master.

"Terra," Master Eraqus said, "consider this an opportunity. A second chance for you to change my mind."

"What?"

"You must know, I care for you like my own son. If I could have my way, I would name you Master in a second. But, how can I, when you are so obsessed with power? Terra, you mustn't be afraid of losing. Fear leads to obsession with power, and obsession beckons the darkness."

"Thank you, Master. I swear I will not fail you again." Terra clenched a fist to his heart, then left without another word.

This left Aqua alone with Master Eraqus. "Master, I'd best be on my way." As she turned to leave, she saw Ventus running across the room. Where could he be going? And why wasn't Mai with him?

"Wait, Aqua. Before you depart, I have another… Well, call it a request of the utmost priority." Master Eraqus stopped her.

"Yes?" Aqua said impatiently.

"I told Terra this could be a second chance to show the Mark of Mastery, and I meant it. However, that flicker of darkness he displayed during the examination – I can sense it runs very deep. If he were to – If those powers were to prove too much for him to handle, I want you to bring him back to me at once." At Aqua's worried look, he added, "It's for his own good. I could not bear to lose any of you to the darkness."

"Of course. I would never let that happen. I promise you, I will bring Terra back! This time, you'll see he has what it takes to be a Master." Aqua took a step forward determinedly. "He's not as weak as you think."

The Master nodded. "Maybe so. I have one final request. It seems that Mai has left the Land of Departure. I don't know how, or why, but I fear for her safety." Aqua gasped. "I want you to find her, and bring her back. She's too young to be visiting worlds on her own. I fear she may have been taken by the darkness."

"Don't worry, Master. I'll bring back Terra and Mai; whatever it takes. You can count on me." Master Eraqus smiled at his star pupil.

"Then go, and meet your destiny."

* * *

On the other side of the castle, Terra walked outside to prepare for his departure. A voice called out desperately, "Terra!"

"Huh?" Ventus ran down the stairs, almost falling down in his haste.

"I – I –" The blonde started stammering.

"It's okay." Terra smiled down at his friend, mussing his hair around. Ventus peered up at him with his big blue eyes, wondering what could be going on in Terra's mind.

Behind them, Aqua stood on the staircase, just watching. Terra walked away from Ventus, and said one last thing; "I'll find her for you, Ven." Hitting the button on his metal piece, he jumped on an air vehicle that had appeared in front of his now fully-covered body. Terra then pointed his keyblade at the sky to create an entrance to the Lanes Between, and flew into it dramatically. The portal closed, leaving Ventus to stare in awe.

"Woah!" Ventus exclaimed. Why couldn't he do that? Wait… He looked at his left shoulder. Maybe he could. Suddenly, he remembered something that Terra had said; " 'I'll find her for you.' " Ven quoted in confusion. Did that mean that Mai was really gone?

He turned behind him to see Aqua watching him. "Where's Mai?" He demanded, summoning his keyblade. "Is she really gone?"

Aqua just looked at him sadly. That was the only answer he needed. "I'll find her." Ven promised himself, hitting the button. "Whatever it takes."

A cloak of armor enwrapped his body, and when he threw his keyblade, another air board replaced it. This was going to be one awesome ride. Ventus flipped in the air and landed on the machine with a grin on his face. He would find both Terra and Mai, and prove to Master Eraqus that he wasn't too young to travel after all.

Aqua's eyes widened in alarm; not Ven too! She dashed over to her friend, and just missed him as he rose into the air. "Wait, Ven!" No, no, no, no, no! This was NOT what was supposed to happen.

Master Eraqus ran out behind her. "No! He mustn't! You have to bring him back!"

"Don't worry, Master." She would find all of her friends, and they would be together once again; Aqua would make sure of it.

With a push of a button, the armor clad her curvy form, and she set off into the Lanes Between. _Ven, Terra, Mai, I'll find you._

That was the last that any of the four would see of their beloved home for a long time.

* * *

Mai woke up in a dark forest. Fearfully looking around, she asked herself, "Where… am I?"

* * *

**_That's it for this chapter! Brownie points to you if you can guess where Mai ended up. Poor Aqua. She's so awesome, and yet her only role is to chase down her friends… She's definitely my favorite female character in the games._**

**_I hope that Mai isn't too Mary-Sue as of right now. I'm still developing her character. If you have any ideas, please message me._**

**_Anyways, hope you enjoyed this!_**


	5. Chapter 4: Short People and a New World

**_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not in any single possible way belong to me. I am really getting tired of writing these..._**

* * *

**_Chapter 4: Short People and a New World_**

Trees as black as night surrounded a blonde girl, letting no light shine through its large density. Mai, who was still on the ground, let her eyes wander around curiously at what surrounded her. From what she could tell, she was on a new world, somewhere very unrecognizable. For one thing, the Land of Departure didn't have any forests close by. Actually, she couldn't even recall _being _in a forest, let alone seeing one. "Terra?" Mai called, voice quivering. She swallowed thickly. She had to be brave, and look on the bright side. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Pushing off the ground, Mai stood up shakily. "Darn that stupid baldy! It's all his fault for getting me here in the first place." Mai glared at a tree in front of her. "Stupid tree. What're you looking at?" With a large humph, she attempted to decide where to go based off of any landmarks. When all she saw was forest in all directions, she spun herself around until she faced a certain way.

"All right, then. You better lead me to an open clearing or something." **(At this moment, Mai has no idea how to use her armor, by the way. Remember how Ventus got super excited? I'm assuming he didn't know either.) **Mai then struck out cautiously, summoning her keyblade just in case of any complications.

* * *

After a while of never-ending trees, Mai began to lose hope. "Does this forest go on forever?" She moaned in frustration, throwing Dreams Light at a random tree. "Ventus, Terra, Aqua! Where are you?" Mai said softly. Never had she felt so lost and alone in her life. She reached despondently into her patchwork pouch and pulled out her purple Wayfinder. Seeing this token of friendship reminded her of what pushed her onwards. Slowly cheering up, she nodded once shortly. "Friends, forever. Right?" Mai would find them soon enough, she could feel it in her heart.

Humming a random ditty, Mai walked about another mile before realizing something very important. She, like most other normal human beings, required food, and boy, was her stomach rumbling. The last time she had eaten had been the night before the exam, due to her late awakening and rather rude kidnapping. Mai held a hand to her belly as she thought. _Therefore, _she reflected sadly, _I haven't eaten in over 20 hours. _By her internal clock, Mai judged it to be around three in the afternoon. That meant that she had skipped two meals.

Weariness began to tug at her limbs, willing her to succumb to exhaustion. "Just a little bit farther." Mai told herself firmly. "I'm not stopping until I find out where I am and how to get back home." _Home, _she fondly thought, _where my friends and endless food awaits._

* * *

Finally, a light shone ahead, and Mai gained enough energy to jog forward. After hours of endless darkness, this was a blessing.

"Oh, sweet heavens above, thank the gods." Mai grinned exuberantly, wiping the sweat off her brow. "I don't know how much more I could've taken of that." Relief washed through her body, and with it came another wave of sleepiness. Mai nearly fell over at the soreness of her muscles. How far had she walked, exactly?

"Okay, food and then sleep. Somewhere." As she looked around, a cottage appeared in the corner of her right eye. "Aha!" Mai turned towards the house and began trotting towards the welcome sight. Stopping at the door, she knocked three times impatiently. Hopefully, whoever lived there would be home.

Since there was no response after a minute, Mai knocked again; still no reply. "Hellooooo? Anyone home?" She shouted towards an ajar window. Jiggling the doorknob, she found that it was open. A battle began to commence in her mind. The majority of Mai wanted to break in and gobble all their food down, while the smaller part of her had a bit more of a conscience. However, desperate times called for desperate measures, so she kicked the door open and went inside.

The cottage had a basic layout of a main room on the bottom floor, and a bedroom on the top, or so Mai assumed. Immediately, she spotted the kitchen cabinets and made a beeline to them. "Food, food, food." She chanted, opening and closing the wooden doors quickly. "Who needs plates when there's no freaking food?" Mai hissed as she slammed another door shut.

Mai threw one of the last cabinets open. "Aha! There you are!" She eyed the bread and salami she had found hungrily. "The people living here wouldn't mind helping out a poor starving soul, would they?" The blonde shrugged. "Of course not!" With that, she stuffed piece after piece of both into her mouth until her hunger was satisfied.

"Mmmm…" She lay back on the floor, feeling a twinge of guilt. After all, she had just eaten about a weeks worth supply of bread. "Maybe I should volunteer to work for them to pay off my debt." Mai muttered drowsily. "But first, time to catch up on my Z's." Letting out a huge yawn, she curled up on the floor and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, seven short men were marching in a line back towards their cottage.

"Who's on dinner duty? I know it's not me." One demanded grumpily, **(Wonder who that could be? XD) **"Whoever it is better make something hot!"

"Duh, I think I am." One in green volunteered.

"That's it; we're all doomed to food poisoning." The first one complained angrily. "If Dopey _is _cooking again."

"I'll do it!" A third one volunteered, sneezing violently after talking. "Oh, excuse me. It's the mine dust."

The grumpy one crossed his arms. "If you cook, then we'll all just get sick."

The dwarf at the front of the line turned around sternly after hearing multiple rude comments from the man named Grumpy. "That's it, you'll cook, Grumpy. Since you're that hungry, I mean."

"Fine!" Grumpy snarled, and the procession continued walking back to their home in the clearing.

* * *

Mai awoke to seven curious faces staring at hers. "Gah!" She sat bolt upright in shock. "You scared me!"

One of the group said bashfully, "Gosh, we're sorry."

Another short man glared daggers at the first. "Why are _we _sorry? She's in _our _house, eating _our _food, which we worked hard to buy, I might add."

Mai rubbed the back of her head apologetically. "Well, you see…" The same angry man cut her off.

"We don't wanna hear it!" He snubbed his nose importantly. "Get out!"

"Now, hold on just a minute." A man stepped forward, hands on his hips. "You're not the spokesperson for us, Grumpy! You're probably scaring the poor girl half to death! Give her a chance to speak and explain herself." Grumpy, as Mai figured he was called, turned and put his back to her with a loud huff.

Mai blinked at her savior gratefully. "Thank you. I'm Mai, and I'm very sorry for intruding here. There's a long story behind it."

"We have time to listen." The other men nodded in agreement. "I'm Doc, and we are the seven dwarfs of the woodlands. I could see that you were wondering why we were so short." Doc said in amusement as he helped her up. Mai blushed in embarrassment. He had hit the figurative nail on the head.

"I'm Sneezy!" A dwarf wearing brown proclaimed with a loud sneeze. "And you can probably see why."

"I'm Bashful." The one who had first spoken to her said shyly.

"Hello there, I'm Happy!" He smiled warmly at her. Mai smiled back in return. These men were funny.

"I'm-" The sixth dwarf cut himself off with a yawn. "Oh, pardon me. I'm Sleepy."

"And I'm Dopey." The seventh one finished goofily.

"Wow, your names fit you all very well. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mai stated, looking at all seven of them. "You see, I woke up in the forest. I had been knocked out earlier today, and I have no idea how I got there." She figured it would be best to leave out the notion of being kidnapped on another world.

"After hiking through the woods for hours, I was starving and exhausted. When I saw this clearing, and the cute cottage inside it, I listened to my stomach, came inside, and ate some of your bread and meat." Mai looked down shamefully. "I know it must have cost some money to buy it. Is there any way I can repay you?"

The leader, who seemed to be Doc, nodded. "We accept your apology. As for repayment, if you make us dinner and work with us all day tomorrow in the mines, then your debt will be repaid." Mai's eye twitched. She was a horrible cook, but she'd do her best.

"Sounds good. Can you show me where all of your supplies are?" The dwarves all fought among themselves to see who could point them out to her. Finally, Dopey skidded out on his belly.

"Here!" He pointed at a storage cabinet. Mai helped him up and put him on his feet, holding back a giggle. They were all so cute! However, it would surely offend them if she said so.

"Make it hot!" Grumpy shouted, already sitting at the table. "And make it fast, girl!" Mai held back a retort, and focused on making the meal.

In front of her lay some onions, peppers, some weird white jiggly thing,** (Tofu, if you were wondering.)** chicken breasts, spinach, garlic, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Mai stared at them for a while, before deciding to just cook all of it and hope for the best. Except for the mushrooms, for they had always disgusted her. Just thinking of eating them made her nauseous.

"Do you have a stove?" Mai questioned after cutting up all the vegetables. The dwarves, who were now all seated, looked at each other in confusion.

"What's a stove?" Happy asked in return, scratching his beard.

Just her luck, they didn't have them in this world yet. "Never mind. Where's your firewood?" Doc pointed to a corner and Mai went over to it, praying to whatever god was up there to not let her mess it up.

* * *

Minutes later, a rather charred meal was made. Mai tasted it, and her entire face lit up. "Not bad!"

Grabbing eight plates, she distributed the meal equally. "Hope you all like it." She sat down and watched Doc, wide eyed in anticipation.

Doc picked up a fork and plopped a mouthful in his mouth. Dabbing at his lips with a napkin, he prolonged the wait to Mai's food reception. "Delicious!" He announced. All the dwarves thus dug in.

"Success!"

"I've never tasted this before, but it has a unique flavor!"

"It's pretty good." Grumpy admitted grudgingly. "But it needs more salt." Mai rolled her eyes and passed him the salt container. What a meanie butt. **(I say this a lot, haha.)**

* * *

Minutes later, all the food was gone, leaving a pile of dishes. Mai looked at them sadly. She was so tired, and she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, due to their excursion. Just remembering Ven's kind face made her blush lightly.

Bashful noticed the light sprinkling of pink across her cheeks. "Gosh, what're you thinking about? Your special sweetheart?" Mai turned an even deeper red. Once again, the dwarves read her mind.

"N-no!" Mai shook her hands furiously in denial. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Silly Bashful, you strange, strange, dwarf." She giggled nervously before changing the subject quickly. "Who's on dish duty?"

The dwarves looked at each other knowingly. It couldn't be more obvious that she deeply cared for someone, but they mutually agreed not to mention it. "I'll do it." Happy volunteered. "You all go up to sleep. That includes you, Mai. We have some blankets you can sleep on."

Mai nodded her thanks and headed up the stairs. Man, those guys were perceptive! It had only been a few weeks ago when she herself had realized the depth of her feelings.

* * *

_Three months ago…_

_ Mai and Ventus were bored. Master Eraqus had taken Aqua and Terra on an excursion to a local café that had some sort of history behind it that related to the Keyblade Wars. Mai had no idea what, and she doubted that it actually did. For some reason, Aqua and Terra were collaborating on something, and Mai was determined to find out what exactly it was. Master Eraqus must have been in on it too, because he would have never authorized it._

_ At the moment, it was only Mai and Ventus at the castle. Since there was no training planned, the two blondes were clueless on what to do with their time. Currently, they were sitting at the table in the kitchen, swinging their legs back and forth. As Mai zoned out, Ven came up with an idea._

_ "Hey, Mai! Let's cook some dinner for when Aqua and Terra come back! It'll be a surprise." Mai lifted her head at this and decided that the idea wasn't half bad._

_ "Okay, let's do it!" _

_ What followed was a mess of ingredients flying through the air, and the two teens attempting to cut vegetables with their keyblades. Neither knew where the knives were kept, because Master Eraqus had hidden them from the two younger pupils. _

_ Eventually, a pile of miscellaneous foods was thrown into a pot filled with water. Mai turned the heat on high and waited for it to be ready. Ven stared at the pot for a few minutes, when he risked a question. _

_ "What are we making, anyways?" He asked confusedly, peering at the insides. There was a mixture of melted cheese, garlic, beef, milk, orange juice, apple slices, and potato chunks mixed together. The smell coming from it was extremely unappetizing. "It doesn't look too good…" _

_ Mai's eyes burned holes into his. "It will taste _fine. _All it needs is some flavoring." She grabbed a bottle of soy sauce. "Stupid bottle. Why won't you open?" Mai kept shaking it until the lid finally popped off._

_ Unfortunately, the liquid followed the lid out of the bottle. The sauce splashed all over Ven's beautifully spiked blonde hair as he stood there in shock. Ven stared uncomprehendingly at Mai as brown drops trickled slowly down his face. _

_ There was a silence for around 20 seconds, and then Mai burst out laughing at his expression. She fell to the floor, rolling around with tears streaming from her eyes. Ven tried to keep an angry expression on his face, but ultimately failed. He joined Mai on the floor, both giggling to their heart's contents. _**(They have a lot of laughing moments… I just realized this. Whatever. They had to be happy at some point in their lives, right?)**

_ They stopped after a while and just lay on the ground. As Mai looked into his baby blue eyes, she felt a twinge in her heart. What was this feeling? A blush stretched across her face suddenly, and she rapidly turned her face away. Ventus reached out to her in concern, eyebrows creased. "Hey, Mai –" _

_ He was cut off by the door opening to reveal Terra, Aqua, and Master Eraqus. The three were stunned to silence. The kitchen was a mess, and whatever creation the two had been making had boiled over onto the floor. The two miscreants sat on the floor innocently, one blushing and the other with soy sauce in his hair. "Mai… Ven…" Master Eraqus thundered. "Explain yourselves."_

_ And that had been the end of that. _

* * *

Mai wished Ven had been here to see how successful her meal had been. Next time, for sure, she would make the same one for him. For now, though, it was time she succumbed to sleep. Who knew what the next day would hold? She snuggled into the blankets that her new friends had given her and dreamed of happier times and the new adventures to come.

* * *

**_That's a wrap! Sorry for the late chapter. I made it extra long, just for all of you guys. It says it's around 2800 words, which is pretty good for me. I'll keep writing these as long as y'all keep reviewing. Thank god for summer!_**

**_Oh, and sorry for there being no appearance of Aqua, Ven, or Terra in this chapter. They'll definitely appear in the next one, don't worry. Keep tuned!_**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	6. Chapter 5: Reunited

**_Disclaimer: I don't in any way own Kingdom Hearts… Sadly L_**

**_Sorry for the wait! In this chapter, Mai will finally find one of her friends. Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_ Chapter 5: Reunited_**

The blonde keyblade wielder was shaken awake by a sneering Grumpy. "Hey, girl. You missed breakfast, so you'll just have to go without it."

A half-asleep Mai sat up and looked at him blankly. "Master Eraqus, why are you so short?" She squinted at his nose. "Your nose is abnormally large as well."

The dwarf just stood there and gaped at the insolence of the newcomer. He shut his mouth after a few seconds, and turned to go down the stairs. "I don't talk to insulting females. Go get changed and meet us outside. You're holding us all up, so make it quick!" He then left, muttering about stupid women and their unpredictable actions. Mai wiped her eyes blearily and then laced up her combat boots. She had slept in her clothes, yet again, and was in desperate need of a shower.

After clipping her beret on, she stumbled down the stairs, grabbing an apple on her way out the door. It would be a long day ahead.

* * *

_One hour later…_

Mai's right shoulder burned to no end, due to the heavy weight of the pickax that rested upon it. Why had she agreed to do this again? Oh yeah, because she was stupid and broke into someone's house. This was where the term, "dumb blonde," actually fit the situation, for once.

Her usually red combat boots were now dirtied with pale brown dust from the dwarf, Grumpy, behind her. She held back a growl as the narcissistic dwarf gleefully kicked pebbles at her heels. Finally, she turned around with fire burning in her eyes. "Will you _stop?_ THANK you."

Grumpy, who didn't look at all abashed, just stuck his tongue out at her. "Bah, humbug." He snorted. "Why should I? You're in my usual spot."

Mai couldn't believe her ears. "Well, why don't you take it back? No one's stopping you!" She bit her lip, not wanting the other kind dwarves to hear her insulting one of their own. However, she couldn't hold back one last insult. "Stupid shorty."

Grumpy drew himself back to his full height. "_Excuse _me? Did you just insult my height? That was low. What a rude child."

Mai snickered. "It wasn't low. It was just at your head level." The two continued bickering back and forth, exchanging snide comments like there was no tomorrow. Doc, who knew by now that there was no stopping either of them, just put a hand to his forehead in exhaustion. The day hadn't even fully started, and already the two were stretching him to his limit. Hopefully, they would begin to get along soon.

Incidentally, the sound of Grumpy and Mai's argument was what drew an inquisitive Ventus to the scene. The day before, he had flown over on his airboard and landed on the first world he had found. Since it had been dark when he arrived, he had spent the night in an apple tree. Never before had Ventus seen such large, red apples. He had eaten about half the trees fruit in one sitting before falling asleep in bitter disappointment.

Ventus had thought he would find Mai instantly on the first world he touched down on, but now he was beginning to realize how hard his self-assigned task really was. One world was big enough, but multiple worlds were way too widespread. Ven's pessimistic thoughts had influenced his dreams, because he had had the same repeating one of Mai running away from him, with him never being able to catch up.

Ventus shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be focusing on the past. This morning, he had woken up with an optimistic mind, and he was determined to stay that way. After all, didn't he hear a familiar voice a minute ago? Or was he just imagining things?

As he peeked over a rock, Ven spied seven short men and a slightly taller woman. Straining his eyes, he noticed that the woman, or rather, girl, was wearing a familiar red beret. Ventus smiled in relief, he had found Mai! However, it looked like she was in an argument with one of the men. What was she doing with them? And why was she carrying a pickax? Ventus would never trust her with one of those.

And also, why was she only with all males? They were all obviously older than her, and yet Ventus couldn't stop a strange burning feeling in his stomach from boiling over. He couldn't cease focusing on the fact that his best friend could be in danger with all of those strange people with pickaxes. Of course, they looked friendly enough, so Ventus wouldn't act on his feelings. Yet. **(Sorry if Ventus seems OOC here, but he's feeling a bit protective of his best friend, who mysteriously disappeared over night. You have to admit that even Ven would be pushed to suspicion at this point.)**

Therefore, he followed them sneakily into the mine they were heading towards. Luckily, no one noticed him as he pushed himself against a wall inside the opening. Mai's loud retorts to the man covered any sounds he made on his way in.

"… and you have such a big nose! It looks like you stole a cucumber, painted it pink, and stuck it right in the middle of your face. That is the ugliest schnoz I have EVER seen in my entire life." The man in red turned maroon in fury.

"Oh yeah? At least I'm not a lost loner who has no friends." He crossed his arms, smirking smugly. He had definitely won this verbal battle.

Mai winced at his comeback. That was a sore spot with her, especially because of that strange dream she had had the night before. "That's not true…" She whispered, looking down. "I have three very important friends with me. They're here, in my heart."

Ventus was about to jump out to consol her, but then hesitated at another man's movement.

Doc had stepped in front of Mai protectively. "That's enough, Grumpy! She doesn't deserve this. Go to your work, everyone!" Grumpy stomped away, swinging his pickax at stray pebbles that intercepted his path.

Mai looked up at her savior gratefully. "Thanks, Doc. You didn't need to do that, though."

"Aw, shucks." The dwarf said, averting his gaze shyly.

At this point, Ventus stepped out from where he was hiding. He didn't know what had compelled him to do so, because his small action caused a major panic attack all around.

"Huh? Who are you?" The one called Doc inquired warily. Mai stared in shock at the sudden appearance of her friend. She took a step back. Was this for real?

"I'm Ventus. Call me Ven."He said shortly before turning his attention towards Mai. "Aw, and here I thought you'd be happy to see me!" Ven teased, wagging a finger. Mai's heart skipped a beat and she felt relief crush her stomach. He had found her! He had actually found her! She dashed forward and launched herself at him like a puppy, hugging him tightly in contentment.

"Ven! I missed you so much!" She squeezed him harder. "Where have you been? I was so worried. Are you okay? How did you get here? Where are Aqua and Terra?" Ventus smiled to himself. Mai hadn't changed one bit, and he was glad. She was fine just the way she was. His smile faded a bit at the mention of Terra, but Mai didn't notice it… Or so he thought.

He set her down gently on the ground and put a finger to her lips to stop the tirade of questions. "I missed you too." He said sincerely. "I'm glad you're okay, Mai. I'll show you how I got here later, okay? And as for Aqua and Terra, they're out exploring places. I'll explain that to you later too."

Mai nodded obediently. She trusted Ventus with all her heart, and was patient enough to wait for answers.

Suddenly, Mai remembered her six friends and one enemy, and turned to address them. Never before had they been so silent. Strangely, they were nowhere to be found.

"Hey, guys? Where'd you all go?" She asked confusedly. "Don't you want to meet Ventus?"

A head popped up from behind a cart. "He's a diamond thief! That much is obvious."

"But, he's my friend!" Mai protested. "If you can trust me, can't you trust him?"

"That only makes him more untrustworthy!" Grumpy snarled. Ventus felt a little guilty. His appearance had only caused trouble.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." Ventus offered apologetically. He could see now that these men were harmless, except for that one rude man who had been arguing with Mai earlier. Ventus needed to have a talk with him about that.

The men gathered at the entrance of the cave. "You didn't?" Another one stepped forward. "I know you're Mai's friend and all, but that doesn't give you the right to sneak up on us like that! You should've made more noise or somethin'."

Mai stepped forward. "Aw, Happy! You know he didn't mean to. C'mon, look at this face." She pulled his cheeks in opposite directions, forcing him to grin painfully. "He couldn't hurt a fly, let alone steal any diamonds!"

"Urgh, Mai leggo!" Ventus gurgled from behind clenched teeth. Mai complied and he fell back, rubbing his sore cheeks. "That hurt! Maiiiiiii!" Mai giggled.

"Sorry!" He rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"Sure, whatever you say."

"What a cute couple!" Sleepy yawned, interrupting their conversation. "Okay, you're right. We'll trust you, since you're Mai's friend. "

"I still think you're here to steal our gems!" Grumpy shouted out stubbornly.

"Nobody asked for your opinion, party pooper!" Mai retorted angrily. "Thanks to the rest of you for accepting my friend, here."

Many miscellaneous voices replied at the same time, all more or less saying, "No problem." Ventus lit up momentarily. He had made his first friends on another world!

"Hey," Ventus added haltingly, "have any of you seen a guy named Terra? He's about yay tall and is wearing clothes like me and Mai." Said girl looked over sharply at Ventus. Why would he be looking for Terra? Wasn't Terra supposedly exploring the worlds?

Mai opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Ventus had said he would explain later, so she'd have to hold him to it.

All seven heads shook in denial as they walked over slowly. "I haven't seen any Terra. The only person we've seen recently is Mai, and she's right here." Doc said. "Sorry."

Ven drooped a little. He hadn't found Terra yet, but he had at least found Mai! That counted for something, right? His thoughts were interrupted by Happy's voice.

"But if you two aren't going to help us work, then you might as well clear out." Happy stated apologetically. "Mai, consider your debt repaid. We can see how much you want to be with young Ven. Have fun, you two!"

The duo looked at each other, then blushed and tore their eyes away quickly. "Thank you, all of you." Mai looked each one of her friends in the eyes. "Except you, Grumpy. You didn't help at all, so you don't deserve my gratitude."

The other six dwarves laughed at Grumpy's affronted expression. "Fine." He shot back before going deeper into the cave, and out of earshot.

"I was just kidding, really. He was actually good fun to banter with." Mai laughed. "You can tell him I said that later."

Doc nodded. "We'll see you around, Mai! Come back and cook for us again!" Ventus' mouth hung open in shock. Mai, cooking? The world _must_ be ending. Well, at least this one was.

He was about to bend over laughing, but prevented himself at the look in his companion's eyes. He promptly pretended to zip his lips and throw away the key. The two then waved and began to head out, when Ventus had to ask one more thing. "Hey, do you know where we can find some other people around here?"

"There's a castle beyond the forest." Bashful answered, well, bashfully.

"Got it. Thanks!" With that, the reunited blondes left the cave and came out into the bright sunlight.

* * *

Ventus and Mai walked side by side in an awkward silence. For some reason, neither knew what to say next now that they'd found each other. Mai broke the quiet with a question that had been niggling at the back of her mind for a while.

"So, is it later yet?"

Ventus tilted his head confusedly. "What do you mean?"

Mai smacked his head lightly. "C'mon, Ven! Did you forget already? You were going to tell me about what happened to Terra and Aqua. Ooh! And about how you got here too."

Ventus rubbed the back of his head mournfully. "That hurt. You hit hard." At Mai's annoyed expression, he quickly continued. "After you disappeared - which you need to explain, by the way – Aqua and Terra were sent out to investigate these weird creatures called the Unversed. Their other tasks were to find out what Master Xehanort was up to and where you were taken. I actually wasn't supposed to go anywhere, but I disobeyed Master Eraqus."

Mai moaned. "Aw, Ven! Why would you do that? When we get back, you'll be grounded for eternity!"

"Well, I was worried about you." Ven turned pink. He decided that he wouldn't tell Mai about the strange masked boy in his room. It would only worry her, and Ventus was pretty sure that the boy was only trying to freak him out. "Anyways, Aqua is probably out looking for me and also completing her tasks. Hopefully, Terra is doing the same. I'll be looking for them, though, throughout the worlds." He turned hopefully towards his friend. "Will you come with me?"

Mai turned a light pink in return at his first statement. "Thanks, Ven. Of course, I'll come with you! How could I not?"

"Awesome! I'll show you how we travel after we're done with this world."

"How will we know when we're done here?" Mai asked curiously.

"Um..." Ven put his hand to his chin. "I don't know. When it feels right."

They walked in silence again, although this time it was comfortable. Instead of Mai breaking the quiet, Ventus did it with another inquiry.

"Wait, you never told me. How did you get here, of all places? And how did you end up with those short men?"

"Heh… After I had left you two to find Terra, I wandered around until I heard voices outside. It turns out that the hunchback – Xehanort - was trying to convince Terra to turn against Master Eraqus out on the patio. Of course, with me being who I am, I interrupted their lively little conversation and Xehanort got pissed. I must have been ruining his plans or whatever. Long story short, I ended up falling into a portal of darkness and popping out in the middle of a creepy, dark forest." Mai finished, looking proud at her summary.

"Master Xehanort would never do that!" Ventus insisted. "Are you sure that you didn't just imagine it?"

"I'm obviously here, aren't I?" Mai felt hurt that Ventus didn't believe her. Why would he trust that abusive baldy's word over hers? "If you don't believe me, that's fine. See if I care when you get led astray as well."

After hearing the pain in her voice, Ven instantly apologized. "No! I believe you." She raised an eyebrow doubtfully. **(I wish I could do that! I can't, sadly. I can only wiggle both eyebrows…) **"Honestly. I swear on my heart."

"Don't. The heart's too important a thing to make a promise over." Mai's expression returned to her usual cheerful countenance. "But I believe you."

Ven put his arms behind his head. "Good. That still doesn't explain how you ended up with those guys, though."

"First of all, they're called dwarves. Second of all, I basically kept walking through the forest in one direction until I came to a clearing with a little hut in it. I was so hungry and sleep deprived by then that I just broke into their house and ate a bunch of their food." Mai glared at Ventus. "Don't you DARE laugh."

"I'm sorry! It just sounds so like you to do something that rash." Ventus chortled.

"Hey! If you were in my place, you would've done the same thing." She crossed her arms. "I fell asleep in their house, and they woke me up when they came back from the mines. We made a deal to settle my debt, which was to make dinner for them and help them out in the mines today. I have no idea how the food turned out as good as it did, but it was a miracle. They all loved it!" Mai beamed. "Then I spent the night there, and yada, yada, yada. You know the rest."

"Only you would get yourself in such a mess." Ventus shook his head amusedly.

Mai couldn't think of a response, so she just stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's good to have you back."

* * *

**_That's it for this chapter! I personally don't think this one was too good, but am I just imagining things? It feels too gushy and unrealistic, and yet it's my longest chapter. I'd love feedback! Thank you to everyone who's following this story!_**

**_Hope y'all had a good weekend!_**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	7. Chapter 6: Snow White and the Unversed

**_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix. 'Nough said… _**

**_ This chapter is super full of Ventus/Mai goodness. I'd love some ideas for their ship name! I'm kind of liking Maiven… Thanks, and enjoy! _**

**_Chapter 6: Snow White and the Unversed_**

A few miles had been covered when Mai and Ven came into a familiar clearing. "Hellloooo, food!" Mai cheered.

"Hold on a second," Ventus deadpanned, "isn't this the dwarves' home? You wouldn't want a repeat of yesterday, would you?" Mai drooped comically.

"B-but… They have food!" She repeated, pointing exaggeratedly at the cottage. "And I'm _hungry._" Ventus heard the rumbling of his stomach and was persuaded a little bit.

"Do you think they would mind?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of _course _not." Mai purred convincingly. "We're their friends, after all, and friends help each other out."

"If you're sure, then." Ventus said doubtfully, turning towards the house. Right as the two began heading towards it, a woman's voice screamed out in terror.

"What was that?" Mai jumped around swiftly, summoning her keyblade. "Sounds like someone's in trouble!"

Ven nodded. "We gotta help her! Let's go!" He, too, made his keyblade appear in his hand and darted away on a path into the forest. Mai groaned.

"Not the woods _again._ And look; more running. Oh joy, what fun." She muttered sarcastically, sprinting in the same direction her friend went to. "Why is it always me?"

Ventus, who had strangely excellent hearing at that moment, turned his head around towards her. "Hey! No complaining, missy!" He grinned to soften the blow of his words.

Mai stumbled in her run. Gosh darn it, why was he so adorable in every single thing that he did? Before he noticed, she quickly picked herself up and carried on after him. The crazy things she did for love.

* * *

Before long, Ventus slid to a stop in yet another clearing in front of a black-haired woman. Sobs of fear wracked her body, making her shake uncontrollably. Mai caught up to him and kneeled on the ground breathlessly.

"You… run… too darn… fast." She panted out. "I need to get in shape…" Only then did she notice the crying woman. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"These horrible trees… They tried to grab me!" The pale woman cried out in terror. Ventus looked on in concern, and stuck out a hand to help her get up.

"Ah, it's okay. You were probably just seeing things. It happens to all of us when we're afraid."

The lady looked up and Mai held back a gasp of surprise. This stranger was the most beautiful person she had ever met! Wavy black swirls framed a delicately pale face with rosy red cheeks. Doe-like brown eyes looked up from under thick eyelashes, still wet from tears. A button nose was in the middle of her face, and perfectly shaped lips, red as blood, pouted petulantly underneath.

Not only was her face the definition of beauty, but her body was as well. The lady had curves in all the right places, and Mai only assumed that her legs were just the right length as well. She hated to admit it, but she was a bit jealous at the woman's appearance. Just a teensy, weensy bit. She only hoped that Ven wouldn't fall for her enchanting appearance.

The lady accepted Ven's hand and stood up unsteadily. "Oh, thank you. I feel quite better now. I'm sure I'll get along, somehow." The woman paused as she thought of a dilemma. "But… I do need a place to sleep at night. Would you know anywhere I might?"

Mai bounced into the conversation. "Oh, I do!" At the lady's startled glance, she quickly added, "I'm Mai, by the way, and this is my friend Ventus. There's a house up ahead where some of my friends live. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Ventus shot her an exasperated look. _I think Mai's overstaying her welcome at the dwarves' home. Although I'm used to sleeping in the same building as her, those poor guys must have nearly died just spending one night with her hyper personality. Would they really be willing to accept yet _another _newcomer? It seems like their lives are pretty busy… Still, what else do we have to lose? We'll be leaving this world soon anyways. _Therefore, he remained still and didn't protest to Mai's self-invitation.

"Thank you, Mai." The lady clasped her hands together and smiled. "My name's Snow White. It's my pleasure to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you too. Follow me to the clearing." She started off in a random direction, hoping it would be the right one. Behind her, Ventus sweatdropped.

"Uh, Mai? The cottage is this way." He gestured to his right, holding back a chuckle. Mai immediately changed her direction.

"Right! I knew that. I was just testing you." She voiced confidently.

Snow White giggled. "I like her, she's quite nice. I see you do too, Ventus. You make a sweet couple." Ven was inwardly pleased, but outwardly groaned to keep up his manly-man act.

"Ugh, why does everyone always assume that? She is NOT my girlfriend! We're only friends!" _For now. _He added in his mind. Unfortunately, Mai couldn't read his thoughts. She stopped moving as her heart throbbed in pain at his declaration. _I guess he doesn't like me that way... His tone alone sounded disgusted at the idea..._

She swung around, hurt staining her features. "I guess I'm not good enough for you, huh, Ventus?" Ven was shocked into silence, and began stammering a response.

"N-no! Mai – " She held up a hand.

"Save it, Ventus. I'll see you later, okay? I need some time to think." She then addressed Snow White. "Sorry, but Ventus will show you the way from here. I'll see you later." Mai grimaced, a sad attempt at a smile, before springing away into the forest.

Snow White held a hand to her mouth. "Oh, Ventus. I'm terribly sorry, this is all my fault. I assumed too much – " Ventus shook himself out of his daze, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"No, don't worry about it. She'll come around. For now, let's keep going forward." Snow White blinked gratefully at her new friend. She would leave the issue of their unannounced feelings to them.

* * *

Mai sat in an apple tree, tossing her star medallion up and down with her hand. She leaned against the trunk tiredly and took off her beret. It was pretty hot on this world, so the winter hat was unneeded. However, it was her signature item, so she firmly replaced it back on her head,

The blonde sighed in frustration. She knew that she had overreacted, but she couldn't help but wonder if what Ventus had said was really true. She, personally, could feel a bond connecting the two of them from their hearts. Was she just imagining it all? Or was Ventus just extremely oblivious?

Mai shook her head. Either way, the situation remained the same. Ventus didn't like her, and there was nothing she could do about it. The best she could do would be to stay his steadfast friend through thick and thin. Terra had already run out on him, and Mai couldn't bear to do the same. They were just too close for that.

With a decisive nod, she leaped down from the tree and landed on the balls of her feet. However, as soon as she landed, she was surrounded by a crowd of strange blue creatures. _These must be the Unversed, _Mai deduced as she summoned Dreams Light. "Heh," she narrowed her eyes, getting in a battle stance, "bring it on!"

* * *

"Mai!" Ventus called out for what must have been the twentieth time. "Where are you?" He sighed to himself. Why did he say such a stupid thing like that to her? He didn't mean it at all… It had really only been his pride talking.

A few minutes ago, he had hastily dropped off Snow White at the cottage. With her aura of innocence, the dwarves were sure to take pity on her. Meanwhile, Ventus was more worried about Mai. She was completely alone in the dark forest. Knowing her, she would probably be lost by now.

Ventus mentally berated himself again. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! I am the KING of stupidity. _Nevertheless, he brightened up at the thought that her feelings towards him reached above friendship. He could only assume that she cared for him, otherwise she wouldn't have reacted as dramatically. In a way, that was a good sign. After this world fiasco was all over, he would definitely, most-likely, confess to her. Ventus smiled as he pictured it in his head.

However, his little fantasy was interrupted by the sounds of battle ahead. He instantly grabbed Wayward Wind out of whatever dimension it disappeared to and paused to see if he could hear any more noise. Cocking an ear to the side, he almost laughed in relief at the sound of Mai's voice.

"Take that, you stupid blueberry! You don't scare me! Hah!" Mai leaped in the air and swung Dreams Light down in a vertical strike towards an Unversed's head. She spun around, tossing her keyblade as she did so. Like a boomerang, it incapacitated several heads before it returned to her waiting hand. Behind her, a stray Unversed was getting ready to leap at her dancing form. Jumping wildly in the air, it grasped her scarf as its target and hung on with all its might.

"Get off, get off, get off!" Mai wailed, running around like a chicken with its head cut off. "Not the hair!" Ventus couldn't hold back a snicker this time. Mai looked fine enough now that she'd had some time alone.

Stepping out of the bushes, he backhanded the blue creature with his keyblade. "Looked like you needed some help." He offered a white flag.

Mai laughed unabashedly. "Yeah, I guess I did. So were those the Unversed?"

"Yeah. I don't know where they come from. No one does." Mai shrugged. She wanted to know, but she also wanted to figure it out on her own. Some things were more fun that way. Ventus then continued awkwardly, "And I'm also sorry about before. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings at all. I honestly didn't mean it. You really do mean a lot to me, and–"

Mai stepped up close to him and held a finger to his lips. "Ssshh. I understand. It just hurt a lot when you said it as if the idea was the most horrible thing in the world. If I'm being honest with myself, then I can say that I do care about you. A lot. More than I should, actually." She paused to get a breath. "Anyways, this isn't really the time for this, is it? Confessions and all… But thanks." At his questioning look, she added, "For telling me. It gives me a reason to keep fighting."

Ven's whole body heated up. "Fighting for what?"

She winked cheekily at him. "I'll leave you to figure that out. You're smart… Usually."

"Hey!" Ventus protested, glad that their usual atmosphere was back. He wasn't ready yet to take the next step into the unknown. For now, he was satisfied with just spending as much time as possible with the blonde beside him.

* * *

Back at the cottage, the seven weary dwarves were arriving back to their humble abode. "Grumpy," Doc commanded, "since you didn't make dinner last night, you get to make it today. Hop to it!"

The dwarf trudged towards the food storage tiredly, too exhausted for a comeback. Doc nodded approvingly, then went upstairs to change into something more relaxing. However, he was shocked out almost out of his skin when he found a beautiful girl resting inside. "There's someone sleeping in here!"

Grumpy, who seemed to be suddenly re-energized, hurried over. "Another one? Is it that silly Mai child again?" Doc shook his head.

"No… I don't know who she is." The two stared blankly at the stranger on their beds. "She sure is pretty, though."

Even Grumpy had to agree on that one. "Prettiest woman I've ever seen." He grumbled roughly. "That still doesn't give her an excuse, though. Two females in two days, what has the world come to?"

Doc rolled his eyes and adjusted his spectacles. As he put them back on, he saw the mysterious woman's eyelids twitch. "Ssh! She's waking up!"

By then, the other five dwarves had come over in curiosity. "Who's that?" Dopey asked, stepping tentatively over to her side. The woman fully opened her eyes to see a dwarf standing over her. "Hungh!" Dopey stumbled backwards in bewilderment at her sudden movement.

She smiled charmingly. "Why, hello there. Are you friends of Mai and Ventus? They said it would be all right for me to stay here." She fluttered her eyelashes winningly, sitting up. "Oh! Please do excuse my manners. I'm Snow White, and who are you?"

They each introduced themselves accordingly, all wanting to please the delightfully beautiful Snow White. This time around, there was no problem with this newcomer spending the night, _or _sharing their food.

* * *

Ventus and Mai arrived at the scene, right when Doc had given his "okay" for Snow White to live at the cottage for as long as she needed to. Mai put her hands on her hips in mock anger. "Hey! It took you forever to let _me _spend the night, let alone share your food!"

Bashful laughed. "Gosh, you know we like you just as much, Mai."

Dopey jumped in. "Yeah! You'll always be our friend." The blonde was slightly taken aback at their rapid consolation, but looked very pleased.

"Hello, Mai! It's good to see you again." Snow White greeted them warmly. "Oh, and you too, Ventus." She left the matter of their separation alone, which was something they were both grateful for. "Thank you oh, so much for letting me stay, you kind men. I had been so scared earlier."

"What exactly happened? I mean, you told us the story about the trees trying to grab you, but how did you even come to be in the forest?" Mai leaned forward. "Wait, don't tell me! You were kidnapped too, huh?"

Snow White shook her head in denial. "No, not quite. I had been picking flowers and there was a stranger there with me. He had a sword, but it was like a key – and then these monsters came, and – "

"A sword like a key…" Ventus pondered. Mai smacked her face comically.

"Who could that _possibly _be?" She said sarcastically. "It obviously couldn't be Terra, because it's not like he's a keyblade wielder. What a pity."

Ventus finally realized the stranger's possible identity. "Terra!" He shouted excitedly.

"Good boy, Ven," Mai cooed, "you get a cookie."

He perked up. "Wait, really?"

Mai glowered at him. "Nu."

Doc cut them off again. "You mean this stranger saw you and set his horde of evil demons after you?"

"Terra would NEVER do that." Ventus and Mai protested at the same time. They then looked at each other awkwardly. "Woah, that was weird…" They said again, before giving one another freaked out looks.

"Oh, of course. I'm sure he wouldn't." Snow White backtracked quickly. "Not if he's someone who's your friend."

Mai smiled at her apology. Boy, had she misjudged this woman. At first glance, Mai had thought that the black-haired beauty would be super stuck up and full of herself. Now that the blonde got to know her, she came to realize that Snow White only had good intentions, and that no evil thoughts dwelled in her mind.

"Let's find him!" Ventus turned towards the door. "C'mon, Mai! We gotta prove his innocence."

"Yeah!" Adjusting her scarf, and flexing her fingers, Mai retied her ribbons and gave a nod of affirmation. "I'm ready, let's go!"

Ventus slammed the door open as Mai saluted her friends with two fingers. "Adios, amigos!" With those final words, she threw herself out the door and yanked it shut with a loud thud.

"…" The dwarves were speechless at the sudden energy that had left the room. "What just happened?" Dopey asked dazedly, sitting down hard on the floor. Happy patted him on the head affectionately.

"That was the sound of two cuckoos leaving the nest." He chortled. "And may they leave us in peace." Snow White frowned at his response.

"Oh, they may be a little strange, but their hearts are in the right place. I can tell that they're full of light and aspirations to help others in need." Happy shrunk back guiltily as she went on with her spiel. "They're a force for good in our little world; I know that for certain now. They'll do anything to protect a friend in need and they have my deepest respect."

Snow White elegantly finished, stepping towards the window. "I know you can find your friend, Mai, Ven. I have faith in you."

* * *

**_I was kind of very disappointed at the lack of reviews last chapter L Have they been decreasing in quality? I hope not… I'm trying to find more inspiration to keep writing. Don't worry; it won't go on hiatus. I just need to find something to boost my words._**

**_Also, if it seems like the romance is a little rushed, then I apologize. Birth By Sleep has such a short and tragic plot line that I'm unconsciously forcing as much as I can into the story. _**

**_Thanks for reading! And don't forget to review ^^ _**

**_- SoraMaiDay_**


	8. Chapter 7: An Evil Tree and a Red Beret

**_Disclaimer: SoraMaiDay (that is, me,) does not in any way own Kingdom Hearts. There ya go. _**

**_I also sort-of found a theme song for Mai that I can't stop listening to XD It's called "Take a Hint" by Victoria Justice. Another one that's stuck in my mind that reminds me of Mai and Ventus is "Funhouse" by Pink. Search them up!_**

**_Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It's filled with a fight scene, so you can skim over it if you like. I'll try to upload some drawings of Mai up soon on my deviantArt, too._**

* * *

**_ Chapter 7: An Evil Tree and a Red Beret_**

A relatively silent, serene forest was disturbed by a feminine screech of frustration, coming from the middle of its depths. The birds took off in fear, for the scream had sounded like a creature in deep fury.

Mai yanked off the offending object that wrapped around her neck. "That's it! I'm done with this!" She threw it on the ground spitefully. "It's way too hot to wear a scarf, and I'm done with being fashionable!" Ventus' lower lip quivered. He and Terra had made that special for her! He hung his head sorrowfully.

The blonde girl saw his expression and immediately a wave of remorse drenched her from head to toe. She snatched it back up and tied it around her waist instead. "Heh, heh. Although you _did _make it, so it's very important to me." At Ven's incredulous look, she repeated herself. "_VERY _important. However, this beret _has _to go." She stood there and pondered her options.

A lightbulb lit up in her mind, and she glanced evilly over at her friend. He backed away cautiously, but Mai was too fast for him. She stuffed it dramatically on a pouting Ven's head. "There! It looks gorgeous on you, darling!" Mai gushed, clipping it on his head firmly.

"Thanks… now take it off."

"Nuh-uh; it stays on until I say so." Mai took a step back, a smirk stretched across her countenance. "Now quit wasting time! Let's get moving."

Promptly walking away, she ran smack into a tree in the middle of a clearing. She lay on the ground, rubbing her head painfully as she glared at the wooden structure. "Strange…I don't think that this tree was here before…" She examined it more closely. "Do trees on this world move?"

Ventus summoned his keyblade. "Get away from it, Mai!" He ordered, swinging his weapon back. Mai pushed herself off the ground and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Why should I? It's not like it's gonna kill me or anything!" A branch swung out speedily at her head, knocking her out cold with an obvious contradiction to her statement.

"MAI!" Ventus yelled fearfully. He rushed over to her prone form, but was stopped by the tree's dancing movement. "Get out of the way!"

The tree only continued to mock him by waving its trunk and circling around him daringly. "That's it!" Ventus used his shotlock and aimed at what he assumed was an Unversed. Orange orbs shot out and all hit the enemy in different areas, causing the Unversed to writhe in pain and to almost lose its balance. "How do you like me now?" Ventus shouted with a smirk of satisfaction, casting a spell. "Fire!"

_Surely, the fire would defeat the Unversed, _Ventus waited in trepidation, _it is made of wood, after all, right? _Wrong. The tree was still alive, and kicking just as much as ever.

The stupid thing jumped high up in the air and released several projectiles of purple pools of poison as it came back to the earth. **(Sorry, just had to add that alliteration in there… I'm a dork, I know…) **Ventus narrowly avoided one as he threw himself wildly to the side. "That was close…" Doubt stirred in his heart as he inspected the Unversed in front of him. Could he actually defeat this gigantic guy on his own? Already, his head spun with the speed at which the battle commenced, and sweat dripped down into his eye. Why was his body so hot?

Ventus reached up to his forehead to brush off the liquid, but stopped as his fingers touched something fuzzy. Suddenly, he remembered how Mai had given this beret to him as a gift, not as lovingly as he would have hoped, but it still meant that she cared about him and his well-being. He pulled it down on his head so that it rested more securely; Mai was counting on him, and he couldn't let her down. It was time for this battle to end.

The Unversed seemed to have the same idea as well. Ventus hissed in pain as the lanterns the Unversed had been carrying were released around him in one blistering surge. Unluckily, one landed near his ankle and exploded, causing the blonde to feel an intense, third-degree burn on his calve. The sizzling sensation only spurred him on as his anger began to give him the energy he needed to activate his Fever Pitch drive. Ventus slashed back and forth diagonally with Wayward Wind, not letting his exhaustion slow his movements. _Master Eraqus really knew what he was teaching them_, Ventus smiled grimly, _maybe there was a method to his harsh training after all._

The tree wiggled backwards, trying to get away from the powerful, glowing, blonde boy. "Scared, now?" Ventus taunted. "Never underestimate the power of the keyblade, or the person who wields it!" With one final strike backed with the element of lightning, the Unversed dissipated into nothingness with a blast of purple and orange light.

Ventus banished his weapon and sprinted to where his best friend rested unmoving on the forest floor. "Mai!" He shook her, too worried to think clearly. "Wake up!"

She remained still, and a feeling of panic trickled into the back of Ven's mind. "Wake up… please. For me." He clasped one of her hands in his. "You've gotta be all right, you just gotta be. I know you wouldn't leave me like this."

Still no movement. Ventus berated himself for not noticing the Unversed's threatening attack sooner. "This is all my fault…" Ventus trembled despairingly, clenching his fists. "I should've seen it coming!"

"… Don't start blaming yourself, now, Ven, or I'll smack you all the way back to the Land of Departure. Twice." A voice coughed weakly from next to him. Ventus squeezed Mai's hand tightly.

"Mai!" He gasped exuberantly. "You're alive!"

She looked up at him exasperatedly. "Did you honestly think I would leave you here without me? You wouldn't last a minute."

Ven laughed in relief. "You got that right. I'd miss you too much." He took his hand away from the base of her skull because he had felt something oozing onto his fingertips. His heart nearly stopped at the deep maroon color covering his hand; the same shade of the blood red poinsettas that decorated the castle during Christmastime in the Land of Departure. "You're bleeding!" –"No, duh!" Mai interjected – "We need to get you some help right now!"

Scooping the girl up, Ventus zipped over to the cottage with as much haste as he could muster. After all, he had gone through a pretty hardcore fight just then, but he had to get Mai to safety.

The blonde bounced in the arms of her savior, pain and dizziness blossoming at the back of her skull. Wincing, Mai left it alone as she tried to focus on something else less hurtful… like the fact that Ventus was still wearing her favorite red beret. It warmed her heart to think of how he wore it while he faithfully defended her from the evil Unversed. It made Mai shudder at how easily she had been taken by surprise, especially considering that Ventus had warned her to get out of the way. Of course, she being the obstinate person she was, Mai chose not to listen and caused this whole fiasco. Ventus had said that it was all _his _fault, but, in reality, it was really hers for not taking notice of her friend's order.

A burning sensation hit the back of her throat, meaning tears were soon to follow. The combination of guilt and pain became too overwhelming for her senses and black spots began taking over her vision again. Mai fought it back with a determined start at conversation with Ventus. "Hey… I'm sorry for not paying attention to your warning. I'll work on it…" She continued struggling to stay conscious, at least long enough to hear his response to her apology.

Ventus slowed down to a brisk trot. "Hey, don't worry about it. Maybe you could listen next time, though." He smiled down at her. She sent a wavering one back in return, before letting the darkness claim her mind again. At least the pain went away when she fainted.

Ven's eyebrows creased as Mai's head fell back. "It must be really bad…" He picked up the pace and went on towards the safe haven. Finding Terra would just have to wait.

* * *

Snow White told a story animatedly to the seven enchanted dwarves in front of her. "… And then, there was a handsome prince who rescued the sleeping princess – "

She flinched in surprise as the wooden door was slammed open yet again. The poor door was getting a lot of abuse lately. In the doorway stood a panting Ventus, holding a slumbering Mai in his embrace. "Can you… help her?" Ventus slumped against the entry. "Ran… all… the way… here." He finished with a loud gulp for air.

The dwarves all rushed forward, fluttering their hands around, not knowing exactly what to do to help. "All right." Happy stood forward importantly. "I'm good with medicine, so I'll do the healing. Stand back, everyone."

Ventus clasped Mai tightly as he made unwavering eye contact with the dwarf. "I'll take real good care of her." Happy promised kindly. Ventus nodded indecisively and carefully handed his friend over to the chubby dwarf. Happy then brought the girl upstairs and placed her gently on the pushed-together beds.

Dopey offered Ventus a glass of cold water, which he gratefully accepted. The boy chugged it down quickly before handing it back, and going up the steps to the second floor. He leaned against a wardrobe in the corner and watched Happy apply a poultice to the back of Mai's head.

"Will she be okay?"

Happy smiled at the clearly concerned boy. "She'll be just fine. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she wakes up soon." Ven let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't noticed, but his entire body had been tensed up in worry at the possible outcomes.

"Phew," Happy said, "she sure is a trouble magnet, isn't she?" Ventus held back a laugh. The dwarf's word was in fact very spot-on. Throughout the time he'd known her, Mai managed to get in a bad situation at least once a day, due to either her snarky mouth or to her crazy antics.

"You can say that again."

* * *

Mai slowly awoke from unconsciousness with the realization that she was on something very soft. That surface definitely wasn't Ven's arms, because his muscles were, in fact, very hard. She blushed a bit at the thought.

_Ven must have brought me to the dwarves' home, then. _Mai concluded. _But that means we didn't get to find Terra, after all… Maybe he'll be on the next world. _She slowly opened one eye and peered around the room. Mai then opened the other one and sat up warily. She did NOT want to faint again. Her head didn't spin too much, so that was a good sign. However, the bad sign was that Ventus suddenly came out of nowhere and was now hugging her tightly. So tightly that she couldn't breathe.

"I'm so glad you're okay! Happy said you would be, but I wasn't too sure! That was a pretty nasty head wound…" Ventus' voice was muffled, seeing as he was speaking into her hair. "Your hair still smells good, though."

"Can't… breathe…" She gasped out. Ventus swiftly released her and sat next to her on the bed, letting the cushions sink down further.

"Whoops…" He said awkwardly. "Do you think you can make it downstairs?" Mai shrugged.

"I'll sure as heck try!" She used the bedpost as support and got up heavily. Her knees shook a little, but she was pretty steady overall. Ventus got to his feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I'll help."

"Thanks…"

Together, the two made it down the stairs and to the wooden table, where many people nearly glomped them. Mai held up a hand to silence their inquiries.

"I'm fine, thanks to you all." She stated warmly. "I'm almost back to normal, and my head is feeling a lot better."

Snow White pursed her lips. "Be careful, now! Just because you don't feel pain, doesn't mean it won't come back again!"

"That's right!" Doc agreed firmly. "Knowing you, you're going to bounce off to do some crazy thing, now that you're on your feet again."

Mai played with her hair amusedly. The people on this world had come to know her really well over such a short period of time. It really was quite funny.

"No worries," Ven assured them, "I'll make sure she doesn't." Mai glared at him, and opened her mouth to protest. He put a hand over her mouth, which she licked maliciously. "Ew, Mai!"

Everyone else sweatdropped. "You sure you'll be okay?" Grumpy snickered. Mai then directed her glare at the dwarf. She was about to send back a response, when she suddenly deflated.

"You know what?" Mai put her hands on her hips. "We'll be just fine. Are _you _gonna be okay without _me_?"

Grumpy spluttered. "Of course I will! You've been nothing but a nuisance!" Mai shook her head mournfully.

"If that's how you feel about it…fine. I'll honestly miss _you_, though. It's been fun, Grumpy." She stuck out her hand for him to shake. Grumpy coughed, before reaching out and wiggling it up and down.

"I'll miss you too…" He admitted gruffly. "Stay safe, now." Mai inclined her head happily.

"Well, I guess it's time we get going." Ventus said, somewhat gloomily.

"Yeah. Onwards and upwards!" Mai bounced excitedly. He could finally show her how to travel between worlds!

"Come back and visit!" The seven dwarves and Snow White chorused. Grumpy added, "And don't you dare forget about us!"

Mai's attitude changed again as her eyes watered up, yet again. Would she always make such good friends in each world she traveled to? This journey would be heartbreaking if this would always happen. Mai knew there was little chance she could come back to this small planet. "Yeah… Thank you. For everything."

Ventus tapped his foot impatiently and grabbed for her hand. He tugged her out the door, hitting it shut one final time. The door then fell off its hinges, tired of being open and shut with so much vigor. "Sorry about that!" Mai called out as Ven led her back across the bridge and into the woods. The group left behind all waved in farewell as the duo faded into the trees.

* * *

Mai pushed away all her sadness and replaced it with excitement. They would see more new places on their quest, so there was no need to focus on the past. Ventus finally let go of her hand and turned to face her importantly.

"Watch this!" He reached over with his right arm and tapped the button on his armor. Metal pieces extended and covered his entire body within seconds. A mask covered his face, with two metal spokes peeking out the back of his helmet. Mai stared at him.

"That's not all!" His muffled voice spoke out. Ventus threw his keyblade in the air, creating a portal to the Lanes Between. The weapon then turned in to a spacecraft of some sort, much like a skateboard.

"Cool!" Mai exclaimed in awe. "Aw, man! That means I could've left this world at any time, huh?" Even though she couldn't see Ven's face, she knew he was smiling smugly. "Wipe that smirk off your face!"

He took a step back in shock. "How did you know?" Mai grinned and hit her armor in response. Green and silver armor much like Aqua's, she would later come to know, spread out all over her being. Two spikes protruded from the sides of her head, curving towards each other like rams horns. Mai examined herself, twisting her arms in front of her.

"Very nice." She said appreciatively, summoning her keyblade. She threw Dreams Light and it boomeranged around her body in a circle, also opening an entrance to the Lanes Between. As her weapon stopped in front of Mai, her double fans glowed and shot out from under her ribbon; attaching themselves to her newly made vehicle. It was shaped much like Ventus', in the way that it was a skateboard-type. The colors coordinated with the ones on her armor, and the fans stuck out on either side of the board. **(I'll draw a picture and might upload it on my deviantArt. I do get very lazy sometimes… Haha…)**

"Sweet!" Mai immediately jumped on and zoomed towards her portal.

"Hey, wait up!" Ventus clambered on to his and followed her out the same exit. After all, he didn't want to lose her on their first flying experience together. The swirling black closed silently behind the boy, and the two departed into the unknown.

* * *

**_ How's THAT for a dramatic ending? Sorry for the somewhat-later-than-usual update. Hope it was good enough for y'all! Tonight, I'm designing the armor and vehicle spaceship thingy for Mai. I'm going to a dinner party, so I'll just be awkward and draw in a corner… as usual XD_**

**_ I bet most of you can guess what the next world is, but I'll tell you which one it is anyways! The Castle of Dreams, aka Cinderella's World! Personally, Cinderella gets on my nerves. She's always been my least favorite princess, for some reason. Anyways, reviews are much appreciated! Thank you to all my dedicated fans!_**

**_ Have a nice week! J _**

**_ -SoraMaiDay_**


	9. Chapter 8: Big Mai, Small Ven

**_Disclaimer: I'm getting really tired of doing these… I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I only claim rights over Mai and any other characters I may possibly be creating…_**

**_ Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! You all really inspire me to keep writing ^^ Here's the next chapter!_**

* * *

**_ Chapter 8: Big Mai, Small Ven_**

****The darkness swirled all around Mai as she swung herself upside-down, testing a new theory. "I don't think these boards can be unattached to our feet once we get on. Maybe it's some sort of magnetism…" She hung down, blood rushing to her head as she spoke.

"Oooh, using big words, huh?" Ventus teased as he noticed another world quickly coming up on his right side. "Hey, look! Another world!"

Mai flipped back to regular position. "Whoa! They look so cool from up here! Like floating mini orbs!"

They zoomed closer as a name popped up in the corner of Ven's mask. "Looks like it's called 'The Castle of Dreams.'"

Mai fake swooned. "That sounds so romantic! We _need _to go!" She immediately flew over to the world, leaving Ventus behind in her dust. "C'mon, Ven! I'm beating you! Last one there's a rotten egg!"

"Hey, that's not fair! You got a head start!" Ventus zipped after her, executing a flip as he did so.

"Show-off…" Mai mumbled as her stomach grumbled **(I love unintentionally rhyming things… XP)** in discontent. Maybe they could finally find something to eat on this planet.

* * *

A few minutes later, Mai touched down alone in a fancy room. Surrounding the blonde girl was a grand entrance hall, the walls decked from top to bottom in pale blue stone. Gold designs decorated the upper area of the room in strange patterns and the floor was made of some type of shiny material, both navy blue and teal colored. Pillars edged the circumference of the room as decorative supports; not actually needed to hold anything up. A staircase could be seen to Mai's left side, leading up to a second floor. She turned around, examining the place in wonder.

"These must be some pretty rich people…" She waited expectantly for Ventus to come down with her. "Where is that boy? I still need my red beret back…" The Castle of Dreams was quite a bit chillier than the Dwarf Woodlands, and her head was feeling cold already. Mai reached down to her waist and untied the scarf, then put it back around her neck.

* * *

After a few minutes of waiting, Mai's impatience won over. "That's it! I'm looking for Ventus; he's taking too long." Traipsing up the stairs, she ran into an old woman with heart-shaped hair as she turned the corner.

The lady, who Mai assumed was the owner of the house, instantly gasped, aghast. "What are _you _doing here?" Mai scratched her head frantically as she tried to come up with a response. What would be acceptable to say on this world?

Two more girls appeared from a room nearby, wearing snooty expressions on their faces. The red haired female stepped forward, looking Mai up and down. "You must be the new maid, correct?" She then whispered snidely behind her hand to her sister, "They keep getting worse and worse every week."

Mai held back a glower. These people were obviously snobs who had always lived a pampered life. "Yes, ma'am." At least they had given her an excuse for trespassing. This way, she could explore the castle without being caught.

"I'm Anastasia, the prettier sister." The redhead sneered importantly. "This is Drizella, the uglier one."

Drizella pouted, making her face even more grotesque. Mai had to agree with Anastasia on that one; her face was enough to make anyone want to barf. "Mother," she whined, "make her stop! I'm _obviously _the more beautiful sister!"

The mother held up a hand, silencing both of her daughters. "Now, girls. Do not squabble among yourselves; it's very unbecoming. If you want to marry the prince, you must act the part." The subdued daughters nodded, their eyes getting moony at the mention of the royal man. "Now, you," The mother pointed imperiously at Mai, "what is your name, girl?"

Mai curtsied, feeling that it was the right situation to do so. "My name is…" She shouldn't reveal her identity to such untrustworthy people, so she let her lips form a few random syllables, hoping for the best. "Quinteria."

The mother looked down at Mai. "What a peculiar name. It fits an outlandish girl like you." With that, she turned and strolled away. "Cater to my daughter's needs; they require assistance to prepare for the royal ball. Do it well, and you will be consequently rewarded."

Left behind with the two siblings, Mai looked at them for further orders. It would be hard to keep her trap shut in this situation. "Well, Miss _Quinteria," _Anastasia sniffled, "follow us to our rooms. Now."

Mai bit back a retort and sullenly followed the spoiled duo. They gossiped about a prince in front of her. "Oh my gosh, he must be so rich!" Drizella gushed, fanning herself with her hand.

"And he's _very _handsome. He must have servants waiting on him, hand and foot." Anastasia gossiped. "Don't worry, I'll let you live in the castle when we get married." Mai snorted. These girls were so stuck-up! She hoped there would be some friendly, normal people populating this world at this so-called ball.

Drizella swung around to face Mai. "Oh, Quinteria? Did you say something?" She asked, innocently and yet menacingly at the same time.

"No, ma'am." Mai clenched a fist behind her back furiously. "Nothing at all."

"Good, because it's not like _you _would ever have a chance with the prince anyways." Anastasia purred, pirouetting back to look at Mai as well. Drizella snickered in agreement.

"With all due respect, _madams, _I think I have just as good of a chance as you, if not better." The sisters gaped at her rudeness. "No offense intended, but are you scared of a little competition?" Mai smirked, pretending to examine her fingernails. There was no way these evil sisters would back down from a direct challenge like that. They would just have to let Mai go to the ball now.

"As if!" Drizella turned her nose up in the air. "We'll just have to prove you wrong, then, little servant girl."

By then, the three had arrived in the sisters' room, and Mai walked over to the dresser. Pushing the doors of it open, she saw three enchanting dresses that hung inside. _That's right, I'd need one of those in order to go... _Mai realized bemusedly. Anastasia came up behind her.

"The pink one is mine, and the green one is Drizella's. Since you appear to have no riches, let alone decent clothing, we'll let you borrow our third one, for competition's sake." Mai's eye twitched spastically as she tried to force down her anger.

"Thank you _ever _so much." Mai growled sarcastically. "Let me help you get dressed." She smiled evilly to herself. It would be fun "accidentally" pricking the two brats with pins and needles.

* * *

While Mai was gleefully dressing the sisters, Ventus was trapped in a mouse cage. He stalked back and forth in annoyance. "What is going on? Where's Mai?"

Ventus reached up and snatched the beret off his head. "And why am I still wearing this?" He shook his head, then pocketed the hat in his capris. Only then did he realize that his surroundings were much, much larger than he was.

"Somebody tell me how I got so SMALL!" Ventus shouted, shaking the trap exasperatedly. He sighed and sat down. "Well, Mai sure beat me this time. I bet she's exploring the world without me now…"

At the sound of a door opening, Ventus looked up curiously. A blonde woman with grey ash staining her apron was walking towards him. He shrunk back against the side of the cage in fear. With this size of body, anything human-sized could seriously injure him!

The lady then picked up the cage, causing Ventus to fall all the way back. He panted in nervousness. "Don't be afraid." The lady said comfortingly, "Oh! How interesting… I've never seen a mouse like you before!"

Ventus looked up incredulously, "Mouse? I am _not _a mouse!"

The woman placed him back down on the floor with a thud. "Jaq, I think you better explain things to him." After these words, a mouse clad in orange and red came trotting towards him.

"Now, now, now. Look, little guy. Take it easy." He said with a weird accent, "Nothing to worry about! We like you." Ventus stood up awkwardly. This was another strange day… He'd never talked with a mouse before; only set traps for them. However, after this day, he would probably never do that again.

"Cinderelly likes you, too. She's nice, very nice." The mouse continued. "Come on, now, zugk-zugk!" Ventus wanted to know what the heck zugk-zugk meant, but he supposed it would be rude to ask. Instead, he followed the mouse out of the cage and into freedom. "My name is Jaq."

"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven." The blonde boy introduced.

"Okay, Ven. Need something? Ask Jaq!" Ventus smiled at the eager fellow.

"Well, since you asked, have you seen another blonde girl around here? She's dressed somewhat like me, and I know she's close by."

Jaq scratched his ear. "I think I saw a girl like that in the entrance hall. She ran into the stepsisters and their mother. They think she's their servant, and she's helping them get ready for the ball."

As if on cue, a voice called out, "Cinderella!"

Said girl got up. "Oh well, time to get to my chores. I'll see you in a little while, Ven, unless you'd like to come with me to find your friend?" Ventus nodded eagerly.

"I know you've got your hands full, but if you can drop me off with Mai, that'd be great!" Cinderella smiled warmly at the little figure.

"I'd love to help."

"Work, work, work. Keep Cinderelly busy all day!" Jaq huffed, angry for his friend. "I'll meet you there, Ven-ven!" The mouse scurried off to a hole in the wall, disappearing into it within seconds. Cinderella then held out a hand, which Ventus clambered onto gratefully.

"If you don't mind, I'll hide you in my ribbon." Ventus stiffened, but forced himself to relax. It would only be for a few minutes, hopefully. He was a man! He could do this!

"O-okay." He stammered, shutting his eyes as he felt himself being lifted up. Cinderella tucked him securely into her waist and headed out the door. Ventus didn't like this one bit. _Mai, you're gonna pay for this…_

* * *

The two sisters were clothed and ready after many experimentations by Mai. She had had no idea how to properly layer the blouses, let alone put on a whopping hoop skirt! "Good enough, peasant girl." Drizella examined herself in the mirror. "Cinderella will be along shortly to do our makeup, which you are NOT allowed to use. You may get changed now."

Mai let out a sigh of relief and deftly snatched up the remaining dress. She hadn't gotten the chance to look at it yet, but at a glance, she could tell it was blue. Since she didn't want to change in front of the two devils, she hurried into the washroom and locked the door. Knowing those two, they'd probably make fun of her figure, even if it was relatively in shape.

She wrinkled her nose. Sure, she had a layer of fat around her waist, but she could get rid of that any time she wanted to! She was perfectly capable of staying fit; it was only a matter of laziness and lack of time. _At the rate I'm going, by the end of this journey, I'll be starved to death and skinnier than a twig. _Mai hoped that there would be food at this ball, and that she could somehow take Ven as well.

Laying the dress out on the table, Mai critiqued it with her eyes. From what she could tell, it was in the same style as Anastasia and Drizella's dresses. For one thing, the poofy sleeves _had _to go, as well as the weird hoop thing. There was no way she could fight the Unversed in _that. _At least the colors were decent. The entire dress faded from sky blue to navy blue, much like Mai's side skirt ruffles.

She quickly spotted some toenail clippers and sighed in resignation. "That'll have to do. Hope they won't mind me totally destroying this dress…" **(I'll work on the design of it… Don't worry.)**

* * *

A while later, Mai was fumbling with a ribbon sash that was supposed to tie around her waist. "Gosh dang it!" She fumed. "If only Aqua were here, she could do this for me."

Little did she know that a miniscule Ventus had squeezed under the door gap. Cinderella had dropped him indiscreetly onto a dresser, and he had made his way towards the bathroom. After catching a glimpse of her not-yet-fully-clothed body, he dived behind a table leg, blushing a deep red. How was he supposed to know that his best friend would be taking her clothes off? Not that she looked bad or anything…

Ventus slapped his cheek to snap himself out of it. He was NOT a pervert, at all. If anyone else saw their crush undress, they would react the same way. Thinking about that made him take note of the fact that they hadn't talked about what happened on Dwarf Woodlands yet. They'd definitely have to do that eventually, but for now, it was time for Ven to alert Mai of his presence.

He coughed clumsily. Mai spun around, clutching the front of her dress to her chest. "Who's there?" She demanded, eyes darting around at every corner. Ventus stepped out in front of her searching eyes.

"Um, hi?" He stuttered. An awkward silence followed his greeting. "I didn't know you were going to the ball."

Mai thought of all the times he could have seen her naked in the past few minutes and turned dark maroon. "Get. Out."

"I didn't see anything; I promise!" Ventus lied, "I see you need help with that ribbon, so I'll just… go get Cinderella for you." He dashed out and slid under the door again, feeling as if he had just escaped from a serial killer.

"I'm going to _kill _that guy." Mai hissed. A knock sounded on the door, and she went over to unlock it. "Come in."

A blonde woman, head bowed, tiptoed inside the room. "Hello, you must be Mai."

The blonde teen nodded. "Yup, that's me. Would you mind zipping this dress up and tying the bow for me?"

"Oh, not at all." Cinderella assured her, and completed the task.

"Thanks so much!" She looked in the mirror at her reflection, turning her head left and right.

"Don't worry you look lovely." Cinderella complimented. Mai could detect a hint of sadness in her tone.

"If you say so." She said doubtfully. "Why do you sound so sad?"

Cinderella bit her lip, then burst out. "Oh, I just so want to go to the ball! I'm not allowed to until I finish my chores, and even then, I don't have anything to wear!"

Guilt covered Mai's heart. If she hadn't been there, maybe that dress would've been given to Cinderella, who really deserved it. "I'm so sorry! Here, you take this dress! You've really worked hard enough for it."

"Oh, I couldn't." Cinderella stepped back. "You go have a good time for me. I'm sure I'll make it, somehow."

Just like Snow White, Mai could sense that this kindly woman had another heart of pure light. "If you're sure, then. I'll make sure to look extra pretty, just for you. Would you like to help me?"

Beaming, Cinderella gave an, "Of course!" and rushed over to grab an unopened package of powder, mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick.

Mai held up a hand. "Wait, no lipstick, please. And can you only put a light shade of eye shadow on? And a light coat of mascara?" Cinderella nodded and applied the make up accordingly. By the end of it, Mai looked stunning in her eyes.

"You look beautiful, Mai."

The teen had had her eyes shut, and opened them at Cinderella's comment. "Holy fadoodle!" Mai exclaimed, touching her face as if it were fine porcelain. "I am hot!"

Cinderella looked confused. "You feel hot? Let me go open a window." Mai reached out and held her shoulder.

"No, it's just an expression." She struggled to explain. "It means that I look very pretty."

"That's a strange expression." Cinderella giggled lightly. "Let me go get your date for you." Now it was Mai's turn to look confused. "I know he's small at the moment, but I'm sure Ventus would like to go with you."

The blonde boy poked his head under the door. "I heard my name…"

Mai rolled her eyes and gestured for him to come over. "Ven, you're coming with me to the ball. I don't know how to get you back to normal size, but I'm sure you'll pop back eventually. For now, you'll have to get in my ribbon." She blushed a bit. "I'm sorry, I know that's weird for you."

Ventus shrugged. He was used to it by now. "That's okay. Let's go. You show those two meanies who's boss!" With that, he was placed into another woman's waist. _Once again… This is the craziest thing that's ever happened to me. _

"I think that's my cue to leave." Cinderella curtsied. Mai made a noise of discontent, and hugged her new friend tightly.

"Now _that's _how you say goodbye." Mai smirked at Cinderella's surprised expression.

"You're too kind." The servant woman's eyes glowed happily.

"I'll see you at the ball, okay?" Mai said forcefully. Cinderella nodded quickly and left the room.

"Quinteria? Are you done yet?" Anastasia demanded irritably.

"Yes, ma'am." Mai knew that Ventus would be puzzled, so she hissed down to him, "I gave them a random name, so sue me."

The unusual couple went out of the frying pan and into the fire. Before Mai had changed, neither of the siblings had noticed her appearance. Now, however, her features were clearly outlined and perfectly embellished. She truly looked like a belle of the ball.

"You take too long." Drizella commented, insecurely sucking her stomach in to make herself appear thinner. "Let's get going, peasant."

Inside the ribbon, Ventus heated up in ire. Who was she to call Mai a peasant? Not everyone could be filthy rich! He sank down further into the ribbon, muttering unintelligibly.

He didn't have much to do until he got to the ball, so he reflected on what Jaq had told him while he was waiting for Mai to finish getting ready. According to the mouse, neither Terra nor Aqua were on this world. The mouse had also told him about how he was working on Cinderella's dress. Apparently, it was the lady's dream to go to the ball, and Jaq wanted to pay her back for her kindness to him and the other mice. The group of creatures were currently putting together an ensemble for the petite woman to wear.

Ventus had offered to help, but Jaq insisted that he should go with Mai to the ball. The keyblade wielder had thanked Jaq profusely for being such a good soul, and was glad he had met a true friend. He snapped out of his musings as he felt Mai halt her pace.

"What's wrong?" He whispered urgently.

Mai glanced around. They were now outside, and the three other women had gotten into the carriage. "Quinteria, are you coming or not?" Drizella snapped.

"Just a second." Mai felt something off about this place. There was some kind of deep sadness and pain drifting among the outdoor air. "You go on without me. I'll catch up."

The sisters looked exuberantly at each other. "If you say so! Let's go, Mother!" The coachman whipped the reins at the horses, and the carriage bumped away out of sight.

"I've got a bad feeling…" Mai relayed to Ventus. Sure enough, a gigantic Unversed dropped down from the sky. She summoned Dreams Light and got in a battle position. "Unversed!"

* * *

**_Is it weird that I never like my chapters? I don't know… But this is the longest one yet! I'm changing the plotline of this world, and I hope it's okay with you all. I mean, that's what fanfiction's all about, isn't it? _**

**_As soon as they hit Radiant Garden, I have another OC planned to join the action. Her name will be Noelle. I haven't really built her character or outfit yet, but I'll work on it._**

**_Toodles!_**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	10. Chapter 9: Starvation at the Castle

**_Disclaimer: I'll keep it simple this time. I don't own Kingdom Hearts. _**

**_ As I write this, I have a huge headache. You may ask, "Why is she writing, then?" This is because I simply have nothing else to do, and inspiration struck after I watched the full walkthrough of KH 3D._**

**_SPOILERS BELOW:_**

* * *

**_I couldn't believe that Lea got a keyblade! I guess it kinda makes sense because he touched the practice keyblade that Terra had made and given to Ventus, back in BBS at Radiant Garden… I love that Lea still looks like Axel. I adore Axel, Roxas, Demyx, and Zexion, as do most people who like KH. I also have a soft spot for Xigbar, but after seeing him admit that he was a vessel for Xehanort, I just immediately disowned any respect I had for him. Same with Saix._**

**_I also thought it was weird that Sora wasn't showing any disappointment at not being made a Master… And that they were having a freaking tea party afterwards. I was so confused, but I loved that Lea was looking all cool in the background. That's it; Lea will DEFINITELY have a part in this story. For sure. _**

**_ Anyways, I guess I'm rambling. Thanks to roxasdualwielder for all the helpful suggestions, and to the rest of you for always leaving nice reviews. You know who you are :)_**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 9: Starvation at the Castle_**

"Guess I won't be going to the ball after all…" Mai said miserably. Was it superficial of her to be worrying about her makeup getting ruined in this fight? Cinderella had put a lot of effort into it…

At a closer look, Mai could tell that the Unversed was only a type called a Bruiser; not too hard to beat, but it's size made it a formidable opponent. "All right, fatso. Let's tango."

Ventus turned green at the rapid dodges and flips that Mai did in succession. He was still inside the ribbon, struggling to hold on tight while still being able to breathe. This just wasn't his day. "Mai, can you put me down?" He hiccupped out.

Mai paused in her battle dance. Had somebody said something? She shrugged, then widened her eyes as she noticed the Bruiser's stomach glowing. "Crap…"

Turning, she ran away from the charging Unversed. "I hate it when they come at me like that!" She wailed as her head wound throbbed. Ouch, she had forgotten about that… That reminded her, where was Ventus? He should be helping her right now! "Ventus, where are you? Get your butt out here, wherever you are!"

Ventus gurgled ominously. "In here. I'm still small." He hoisted himself halfway out of the bow. "And there's going to be some tiny barf in here if you keep flipping around like that. At least put me down or give me some warning!" He glared shakily at Mai, then let out a burp.

"Don't you dare throw up on me!" Mai growled as she noticed a fist coming right towards her face. "Whoops! 'Scuse me." She ducked, narrowly avoiding what could've been a nasty hit. "Hang in there, Ven."

"What else _can _I do?" He moaned uncomfortably. Mai finally banished her keyblade and took out her fans instead.

"That's it! A big guy like this deserves the taste of two metal fans." She opened one and kept the one in her left hand closed as a club. Whirling around, she kicked the Unversed in it's belly and jabbed with her closed fan. The Bruiser teetered back, and Mai used that single movement as her advantage. She leaped up and used her open fan to slash downwards as she landed back on the ground. Just to be sure, she bashed the Unversed one more time on the head. It then disappeared with a flurry of darkness.

Sweat dripped into her eye, making it sting. "Ouch… You okay there, Ven?"

The blonde boy climbed out weakly onto Mai's offered hand. "Not really…" He debated with himself inwardly before announcing matter-of-factly to Mai, "I'm gonna be sick." He then leaned over the edge of her hand and upchucked the little amount of food that had been left in his stomach.

Mai looked away, wrinkling her nose at the stench that followed. "Gross, Ven. That is so grodey, seriously." Ventus collapsed onto her fingers, still retching. "Do you feel better now?"

"A bit." He admitted. His throat burned from his stomach acid, but it was all good.

"Let's get you some food." Mai placed Ven on her shoulder. "Don't fall off, now. Hold on to my dress strap." She could only imagine how hungry Ventus felt. She was starving already, but having an empty stomach on top of that must be excruciating.

Mai rubbed her hands evilly as she came up with an idea. Walking gently as to not agitate Ven's stomach, she opened the large doors to the estate and headed in a direction where she assumed the kitchen would be. Delicious aromas were drifting from inside, begging her to come and devour the food that was laid out somewhere nearby.

She stopped and took another deep sniff; something smelled extremely appetizing. _Screw walking slow, I'm half-starved. _Picking up the pace, she nearly sprinted down the long hallway towards the dining room, blowing the door open. A man held a hand to his heart, an startled expression on his face. "Ma'am-"

Holding a finger to her lips, Mai slunk around the perimeter of the room, leaving a bemused waiter behind. "Where's the food?"

The waiter figured he might as well go with the weirdness, and waved a hand towards a door on her right. "Thanks." Without any further ado, she entered the kitchen into what could only be described as a culinary heaven. A large pot full of corn chowder boiled on the stove while a roast turkey cooked in the oven. Freshly baked loaves of French bread were left to cool on a rack and a gigantic salad with vinegar dressing was set on the counter. Last, but definitely not least, was the glistening strawberry pie with thick whipped cream edging the crust.

Mai twitched in alarm as she felt something wet drip on her shoulder. Looking down to inspect it, she came face to body with Ventus. "Sorry…" He wiped the drool off his chin. "I couldn't help it…"

"Poor Ven. Let's get you something to eat." Mai locked the door; no one would be able to interrupt their feasting. "I'll get a plate, and you can just take whatever you want from it, okay?"

He nodded wearily, holding back a yawn. Mai had to prevent a squeal from coming out at his cuteness. A sleepy Ven was one of her favorite ways to see him, although she wasn't too picky with his personality, except for when he was angry. Particularly when he was angry at her.

Going around to all the dishes, Mai grabbed a hefty portion of each entrée; even the salad. She hated to admit it, but a girl did need her greens. Seeing as she was too tired to deal with utensils, she dug in with her hands as daintily as possible. Ventus had decided he didn't care about appearance, and thus stuffed his face like a wild animal. Mai laughed at his reaction, then helped him get up on the soup bowl.

Ventus balanced delicately on the rim, leaning over to take a sip. However, he got more than he bargained for when he inclined a bit too far. Overbalancing, he toppled into the chowder with a splash of pale yellow liquid. He surfaced, his spiky hair held down with the thick goop. Mai fell out of her chair in hysterics, rolling on the floor uncontrollably.

The blonde boy pouted at his friend, causing them both to feel a strong sense of déjà vu. Mai remembered that time, a few weeks ago, when they had had a food fiasco much like this one. That same time had been when she started feeling something more than friendship for Ventus. Her laughter instantly halted as her cheeks warmed up with heat. Luckily, Ven couldn't see her from where he was situated.

Floating amid flecks of corn, he remembered the same time. He had always had a soft spot for Mai, ever since she had been by his bedside when he had awoken for the first time in the Land of Departure. Her doe-like eyes and happy aura was what originally drew him in, but he only fell further when he realized how caring and sarcastic Mai could actually be. Those two words couldn't normally go together, but when it came to Mai, they fit perfectly.

Sure, he was still a bit unsure about his feelings, but he was almost certain that he loved her… Somewhat. It felt too serious to be thinking about love in their young teenage years, so Ven settled for the description of a strong crush.

On the other hand, Mai was certain about her feelings. She wasn't afraid to admit that she loved Ventus. However, she did know that feelings could change based on the heart's yearnings. She would go where it leaded her, but for now, it was telling her that Ven was a true friend and a good choice for a boyfriend, if that was what they would be when they admitted it to each other.

Both started when they realized they had zoned out for a second too many. Mai quickly climbed back onto her chair and messed with her bangs distractedly. All the food was now gone, except for the chowder that Ventus was still swimming in. She peered over at him questioningly. "Are you gonna eat that, or keep doing water aerobics in it?"

"N-no, I'm done." He tried to get out of the bowl, but kept slipping down the curved china walls. "Um, can you help me out?"

Mai reached over and picked him up with her thumb and pointer finger, then dropped him in the middle of a fluffy bread slice. She then got up and licked her lips excitedly. "Methinks it be dessert time!"

The strawberry pie taunted her from a few feet away. Rather than cutting a piece, she grabbed the entire pastry and brought it over, failing to notice that Jaq had sneakily come over to exchange a glance with Ventus. Mai put it down in front of her and bent down to smell the dessert, wanting to fully appreciate it before it was gone.

In the end, this was her downfall. Ventus and Jaq had ascended onto her head, pushing with all their might at the right moment. Mai's face was promptly stuck into the red pie with a loud gurgle. The two boys gave each other high fives before going back to the safe table surface, out of arms reach.

Mai's head rose from the pie, dripping with red slime and white cream. She sent a death glare at the devious duo, gritting her teeth. "Ventus…. Jaq…"

"Hey! It's only fair," Ventus pointed out, "that's twice now that I've been covered in food." Mai considered his point before relenting.

"True. Next world, I mean, place we get to, though, you owe me an ice cream."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ventus laughed loudly, ignoring her mess-up.

"It relates to food! But, whatever." She turned to Jaq. "Hey, Jaq? I have an idea, but it requires your assistance, along with any other friends you might have…"

The mouse leaned forward as Mai whispered into his ear. A grin spread across his face. "Zugk-zugk! You can count on me!"

* * *

Needless to say, when the sisters and evil stepmother came back from the ball, trails of food could be found all over the estate. The kitchen looked like something had blown up inside it, and barely distinguishable letters could be found on the wall, saying, "I win."

Anastasia burst into tears while Drizella stomped her foot in a mini temper tantrum. "Mother!" Both moaned. "I want that maid _fired._"

The older woman collapsed in the chair. "I agree, darlings. I agree."

* * *

Later, when Aqua came by, she was very confused by the state of the house. Why were there green lettuce leaves on the floor of the entrance hall? And why were there pieces of bread on the chandelier?

The bluenette shook her head and smiled. There was only one duo that could have caused such a mess. "Ventus, Mai, hold in there."

* * *

Meanwhile, the two blondes had just left the large estate after picking up Mai's regular clothes. "Man, oh man." Mai wiped her face with a hand. "It'll be hard to get this off, huh, Ven?"

"Heh. You shouldn't be talking." Ventus joked, putting his hands behind his head. "Is it time to move on to the next world?"

Mai nodded. "Yeah. Let's find water there so we can wash off, okay?"

"You don't need to tell me twice. I can't wait to get back to normal size again." Ventus rightfully complained. "I hope this food won't stain our armor."

Mai responded by slamming the button on her arm. "By the way, you're the rotten egg, remember? I beat you last time."

Ventus leaped off her shoulder and did the same with his. "Well, there was obviously a malfunction if I ended up being that small! You can't hold me to that. Wanna race again?"

"Sure, why not? I'll just beat you again." Mai giggled, opening a portal with her keyblade. "Let's get going."

She tugged Ventus behind her as they went inside the Lanes Between. As soon as the portal closed, Ven grew back to regular size. "That's a relief." He mumbled.

"C'mon, race ya!" Ventus shot off into the sky like an arrow, making Mai chase after him.

Being in the Lanes Between gave her time to organize her thoughts. Mai still couldn't shake off the dark feeling of forboding in her heart, but ignored it as best she could. She felt guilty that she had forgotten about Terra being lured in by the baldy. _Terra, _Mai grasped her Wayfinder tightly, _please be all right. _

The two became mere spots in the distance, leaving the Castle of Dreams behind them forever.

* * *

**_That's it for now! Got a little dramatic there… Hope you enjoyed it anyways ^^_**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	11. Chapter 10: Anger and Obliviousness

**_Disclaimer: _**

**_ Mai: You all must be idiots if you don't understand that SoraMaiDay doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, and that she never will._**

**_ Ventus: Ouch, that's harsh… _**

**_ Mai: Don't make me stuff your face in a strawberry pie, Venny._**

**_ Ventus: *backs away* Heh heh, I'll be going now. Enjoy the story, guys!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 10: Anger and Obliviousness_**

"I can't believe it!" Mai wailed, pinching her cheeks in disbelief. "I lost!"

The two had just entered another world by the name of Enchanted Dominion, and were currently in a forest _again_. Ventus had beaten her by a landslide, due to her being immersed in thought in the Lanes Between. Ven smirked smugly at his friend, who was now sitting down in disappointment; his armor disappearing with a flash of light.

"That's what you get when you get a big head!" Ventus admonished.

"Ugh, whatever." She crossed her arms as her armor, too, retreated back to her arm piece. "Um, where exactly are we, anyways?"

"Tsk, tsk. Not paying attention, were you, Mai?" She shook her head, a glimpse of melancholy flashing across her face for a second as she reflected about Terra again. Ventus looked at her curiously, but decided to leave it alone. Women were too unpredictable, so he'd rather not delve into her complex emotions.

"Not really… I was too focused on the race… And the fact that part of my vision was obscured by pie." Mai gestured sharply towards the strawberry goop resting on her eyebrow in annoyance.

"We're somewhere called the Enchanted Dominion." Ventus stroked his chin. "I wonder what enchantment is on this place…"

"Only one way to find out!" Mai leapt to her feet with a sudden burst of energy. "Maybe we'll find a lake to wash off in, too." She cartwheeled over to Ventus, who was still soup covered. Interestingly enough, he was starting to emit a quite pungent odor. Mai got up in his face, taking a deep sniff, before fanning it away with one hand dramatically. "Boy, you smell worse than a garbage dump; I would know."

She wrinkled her nose as she remembered a particularly nasty experience. Before Ventus had come to the Land of Departure, she had been a pretty big rebel in her tween years. On one day, Mai had come to the conclusion that keyblade training was pointless, because at that time, she had been unable to summon her weapon. Therefore, she ditched practice and instead was chased around the castle by an enraged Master Eraqus.

Of course, it had one of the funniest moments in her life to see the old Master coming after her, with his robes dragging out behind him and his little bang hair bouncing up and down comically. It wasn't often that Master Eraqus raised his voice, but this was one of the rare exceptions.

After about twenty minutes of no success, he ordered Aqua and Terra to hunt down the rascal instead. Mai had seen him give up, and crowed in triumph, only to flee quickly when she saw the pissed off looks that her two friends sent her for taking away their valuable training time. Zigzagging down the corridors, Mai took so many turns that she forgot where she was. Eventually, she ended up with only one door left to go through. Without a second thought, Mai had thrown it open and jumped inside.

This very room had happened to be where the trash was kept, and there was a gigantic pile in the center of the room. Mai had dived into the garbage heap, and Terra and Aqua had laughed uncontrollably at her predicament.

Back in the present, Mai let out a shudder. _Never again,_ she promised herself. Once again, Ventus decided to ignore her reaction.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get going."

"You're not the boss of me, remember?"

Ventus narrowed his eyes at Mai. "What about that promise you made, huh? I thought you would 'heed my warnings' now."

Mai opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to come up with a response. "Fine." She changed the subject and sped up the pace. Ventus struggled to catch up with her. "Have you noticed that a lot of these worlds are basically forests with a random house in the middle of it? Dwarf Woodlands had the cottage and the Castle of Dreams had the estate, and now we're here. In the woods. Again. How much do you wanna bet we're going to find a random castle in the middle of nowhere?"

At that moment, the trees cleared out to reveal a huge stone castle; way bigger than the one in the Land of Departure. "That proves it! I'm psychic!" Mai slapped her knee excitedly. "Ooh, let me give this another shot. I predict we'll be seeing another pretty lady with a heart of pure light here, too!"

Ventus rolled his eyes with a smile. "Hey, look! There's a moat full of water here! We can wash off in that!"

Mai gave him a withering look. "Hey, look! There's a castle with _washrooms_ and _clean running water_! We can wash off in _that._" She playfully smacked Ven in the head. "Dummy."

"Just trying to be helpful…" Ventus said pitifully, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. Mai caved at the adorable look he gave her.

"I'm so sorry, Venny!" She glomped him apologetically.

"It's okay… Now let me go…"

Mai released him rapidly. "See, I can listen! Sometimes." She started flouncing away across the bridge, when she remembered one very important thing. "Hey! You still have my beret! Can I have it back now?"

Ventus nodded, taking the hat out of his pocket. "Here." Mai happily let her hair down from the ponytail it had been in for the ball and clipped her bright red beret on.

"Now all I need to do is get out of this dress." Looking down at what remained of her gown, Mai clutched the bundle of her normal outfit with a sense of yearning. She needed to get out of this monkey suit. There had been too many times when Mai had tripped on that long skirt, and it was a huge liability in battle.

The duo fell silent as they entered the stone fortress. There was an eerie quiet surrounding them, and Mai didn't like it one bit.

"Where is everyone?" Ventus wondered, his voice echoing across the empty premises. The rebounding of his voice against the walls caused a trophy to topple over, creating a loud clang. Mai jumped nearly a foot in the air and hid behind Ventus fearfully as she tried to find the source of the noise.

"What was that?" Mai's eyes darted around nervously.

"It was just a chalice falling." Ventus soothed. Mai relaxed and then awkwardly edged away from his back, leaving a cold spot where her warmth had temporarily been. He shivered at the loss of heat, and at the overall creepiness of the place.

"Let's go find someone with a pulse around here." Mai hesitantly reached out for Ventus' hand with a muttered excuse of, "Don't want to be separated."

"Mm, sounds good." Ventus led the way up a grand staircase in front of them, stepping lightly. Mai followed his example and tiptoed a foot behind him, inching forward warily.

_Still no sign of Terra… _Ventus thought sadly. Where could he be?

"I feel like someone's gonna jump out at us…" Mai interrupted his thoughts, flinching as a cobweb landed on her face.

"The feeling's mutual…" He agreed, opening a random door to his right. To his surprise, on a bed inside rested a golden-haired woman. Mai tapped her foot impatiently, wanting to know why he hadn't gotten out of the doorway.

"Did you find someone?" Ventus wordlessly stepped aside to let Mai past him. She stopped and stared at the sleeping lady. "Okay, that's it; I'm definitely psychic."

Mai made her way over to the princess. "I wonder what her name is…" Leaning over, she poked the slumbering woman in an attempt to wake her up.

"Mai!" Ventus hissed warningly. "What're you doing?"

No sooner then he had said those words, did a voice call out behind him. "Stop, you get away from her!"

Mai backed away, turning her head curiously to see who had come in. Three short, older women were holding sticks out in front of them threateningly. Pointy hats rested on their heads and little pointy things came out of their backs.

"Wha-" Ventus took a step back. "Oh, we're sorry."

"Are you fairies?" Mai's eyes shone excitedly, completely disregarding Ven's apology. "I've never met one before!"

The three women exchanged looks and all at once put their wands away. These two children didn't look like they had any bad intentions.

Ventus glared at Mai. "As I was saying, we're sorry. It's just," He blushed, "I've never seen anyone so beautiful…"

Mai's heart became heavy in her chest. He still didn't get it, did he? She looked down at the ground, woefully wishing it would swallow her up.

The blue fairy took note of the girl's doleful expression. "Who _are _you two?"

"The name's Mai." The girl replied flatly.

"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven." The red fairy flew over to Ven's side, examining him from all angles.

"Oh… you don't seem bad at all, dearies." The green one smiled, letting her guard down. "I'm certain you both have pure hearts, just like our precious Aurora."

"Hmph… So that's her name." Mai snuck a look at the princess again with a twang of jealousy.

Ventus leaned forward curiously. "Can you tell us why she's sleeping?" Mai held back a snort of derision. He obviously cared about this unknown woman. Maybe it was time for her to disappear… Of course, she was most definitely overreacting about such a little comment, but Mai didn't feel like listening to the voice of reason in her head. The beast of jealousy reared it's ugly head in her heart.

"Long ago, Maleficent cursed her. Now she's stolen her heart." The green fairy explained in mourning.

"Hm… Well then, why don't I go get it back for her?" Mai bit her lip furiously. _'I,' he said… I see how it is. A pretty face comes along, and it's 'goodbye' Mai. That decides it; I'm leaving now, for sure._

"Yeah, _you _go ahead and do that." Mai entered the conversation crossly. "I'll meet you on the next world, okay?" Without waiting for a response, she turned to leave. "See you later."

"Okay…" Ven said in a half-puzzled, half-hurt voice. "I'll see you around…"

"Wait, dear!" The blue fairy winged over to her sympathetically, whispering in her ear. "I'm sure he's just being silly. I know he cares for you, deep down. He's a teenage boy, he can't help himself."

A smile threatened the corner of her mouth. This fairy understood her. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"I'm Merryweather." The blue woman introduced herself warmly. "And I know you have to go, but let me do you one last favor." Merryweather waved her wand, and all the food caked on Mai's face dissolved, and her usual outfit reappeared onto her body with a burst of light.

"Thank you so much." Mai said softly. "You're too kind. I hope I'll see you again, sometime."

The fairy nodded, shooing her out with a hand. Mai hid a grin and departed the room. Maybe this world wasn't so bad, after all…

* * *

Merryweather turned and went up to Ventus slightly angrily. "I hope you know how lucky you are to have a friend like Mai."

"Huh?" Ventus tilted his head in confusion. "Of course I do."

The other two fairies sighed at the boy's obliviousness, but there was no helping it. "Anyways, I'm afraid it's impossible to get Aurora's heart back. Maleficent's home is at the Forbidden Mountain. It's not safe."

Ventus shook his head determinedly. "I'm not afraid. We can't just leave Aurora like this. I can help, you gotta believe me." He locked eyes with each fairy. "Let's go get her heart!"

* * *

Mai crossed the bridge as she headed to the forest, wanting to think for a while. Unfortunately, her plans were interrupted by the untimely arrival of green flames, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

Her right hand automatically gravitated towards her double fans. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

A tall, horned witch rose from the flames with a loud cackle. "It is I, Maleficent. And who, if I may ask, are _you_?"

Mai sighed. Even an idiot could tell that this witch had evil sewn throughout her being. "The name's Mai, and I'll be leaving now." She had no patience for any tricks at the moment. She just wanted to find some place where she could be left alone to wander without fear of running into Ventus for a while.

"Wait!" Maleficent reached out beseechingly towards her. "Do you not want to hear news about your friend?"

Halting, Mai twisted her head slightly. "What friend?"

Maleficent smiled connivingly, taking a step closer. "Your friend… Terra." Now, Mai whirled around, eyes wide.

"Terra? You've seen him?"

"Why, yes, I have. I can take you to see him, if you'd like." Mai debated, her eyes narrowing at Maleficent's offer.

Finally, she reached a decision. "No. I'll find him on my own. There's no way he would ever side with a witch like you." Mai punched the air angrily to prove her point. "You reek of darkness. Go away, your stench is making me want to puke."

"Insolent child!" Maleficent screeched, drawing herself back. "You will regret this, someday. Unversed, come to me!"

Mai groaned, summoning Dreams Light and getting into her battle stance. She didn't have time for this!

A swarm of blue creatures popped up from the ground, causing Mai to relax a bit. These were the simplest kind of Unversed, and were the easiest to defeat. "I don't have time for you." She sneered, going into shotlock mode.

Aiming at the opponents, Mai quickly shot off purple orbs at each head, disarming all of the Floods quickly. Maleficent clapped mockingly as Mai dispatched her keyblade.

"Bravo, bravo. I'll see you around, girl." With that, the witch departed in another bunch of green fire. Mai let out a snarl of fury and then kicked a wall.

"Stupid Unversed, stupid Ven, stupid Terra, stupid Aurora, stupid, freaking, castle!" She glared up at the sky. "I hate this world, and I'm never coming back, you hear me?"

She let herself fume a little longer, then hit the button to activate her armor. It was high time she left. Mai opened a portal and zoomed into the Lanes Between, just as Ventus came onto the bridge with the three fairies.

"What did I say?" He asked himself, shaking his head in frustration. "Women…"

* * *

**_That's all for this one! Hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry for making it pretty short this time… Most of you can probably guess the next world! It's also where my second important OC will come in… Stay tuned!_**

**_Also, I'd like to start thanking a different reviewer each chapter. Today, I want to mention MoonlightStar777. This person always leaves awesometastic reviews and I really appreciate it ^^ _**

**_ Thirdly, I want to notify all of this story's followers that I will be gone from July 20_****_th_****_ to 28_****_th_****_. This means there will be no more chapters during that week. However, that is a few weeks away, so enjoy the updates until then!_**

**_Hope you all had a lovely Fourth of July! (if you're from the US XD Otherwise, it's not really a holiday for you, is it?)_**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	12. Chapter 11:The Robbery at Radiant Garden

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, sadly. However, I DO own Mai and Noelle, so nobody dare use them without my permission! _**

**_My sister from out of town is coming to visit for the next two weeks, so chapter uploads won't be as fast as usual… Sorry :( But in this chapter is where Noelle comes in! I have everything planned out for her. I might even like her more than Mai… No offense to her intended._**

**_Anyways, on with the show! Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 11: The Robbery at Radiant Garden_**

A teenage girl crept through the shadows to inspect the arrival of a new visitor, pressing herself against the wall suspiciously. Never before had anyone arrived to her city in such a matter, coming out of nowhere in strange metal armor, and riding a floating skateboard. She silently pulled out the oaken bow staff from its sheathe on her back, preparing to question the stranger. If she didn't cooperate, then she would be promptly taken for further questioning.

* * *

"Radiant Garden, huh?" Mai let her armor retreat into the white piece on her arm. From what she could tell, this planet was a city type, filled with lots of human beings. There were little houses made of wood every few feet, and there were several little shops selling potions and weapons. The area she had landed in looked to be a large clearing with flower gardens lining the edges. Overall, it seemed to be a friendly place, especially since there weren't any Unversed so far.

She began walking in a direction that looked promising. The staircase she was headed towards led up towards what looked like a castle. Maybe there, she could get some information about where she was. So far, this was her favorite world, based off of landscape and personality, and she was curious as to how this place was changed throughout history.

After her first few steps, Mai found herself unable to travel any further. A wooden staff was held taut against her neck, held on either side by two strong hands. "Who are you?" A voice bit out at her.

Mai tried to turn and look at her captor, but the staff was pulled tighter against her throat to prevent any further attempts. She coughed, black spots coming into her vision again. The person must have felt some kind of pity, because they loosened up a bit. "What's it to you?" Mai wheezed, planning an escape in her mind.

"Just answer the question!" The person retorted, sounding decidedly feminine. Mai didn't plan on it, not after the rudeness that this girl was showing her. Thinking quickly, Mai elbowed the girl in the solar plexus. When her captor slackened her grip on the staff, Mai turned her elbow into a hammer strike and slammed the girl in the stomach.

The rude stranger doubled over in pain, letting the staff fall to the floor. Mai instantly turned to face the girl, summoning Dreams Light and pointing it at her unwaveringly, cold fire in her eyes. "I think the question is, who do you think _you _are to attack me like that for no reason?"

Seeing the girl reach for her staff, Mai kicked it out of arms length. "I'll ask again. Who do you think you are?" The stranger began shaking on the ground, causing Mai to waver in concern. No matter how mean a person could be, they still didn't deserve to be in pain. She leaned down, keyblade still at the ready, to examine her attacker. To her great surprise, the girl was laughing.

"What're you laughing at?" Mai demanded, standing back to full height. She stood up as her giggle fit subsided, revealing herself to be a tanned teenage girl with chocolate brown hair. Two braids framed her face on both sides of her head, and her hair went down to her waist, where it was tied in a low ponytail. The most shocking part of her, however, was her eyes. One was a normal shade of brown, while the other was a shining silver. **(There will be an explanation for this… In the second part of the trilogy….)** Her outfit consisted of a basic white tank top and green cargo pants with a black choker hung around her neck.

"You've got spunk, I'll give you that." The stranger waved a hand airily. "Now I really want to know. Who are you, and what are you doing in Radiant Garden?"

"Not so fast." Mai clutched her keyblade. "I'd like an apology and a name, first."

The girl blew a hair strand out of her face. "The name's Noelle, but I can't honestly say I'm sorry. You're the first worthy opponent I've had in a while, and when you see a stranger in weird getup come to your town, you can't help but feel suspicious." Mai considered her reply, before nodding and banishing Dreams Light.

"I can understand that. I'm Mai, and I'm not from around here, as you could probably tell. "

Noelle snorted. "You stick out like a sore thumb, especially with that weird weapon you carry around. Can I see it?" Mai bit her lip, but eventually handed it over. After all, she could always re-summon it.

Noelle held it out in front of her, inspecting it from all angles. "Not bad… I could learn to use one of these. Where can I get one?"

Mai shrugged. "You can't. You're born with it, based off of your heart's strength." The keyblade reappeared into Mai's waiting hand. Noelle smirked, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"I thought as much." She walked over to claim her staff. "Maybe someday, then. I'll keep training." Noelle rolled her eyes as she sensed the familiar presences of her two doofus friends. "Excuse me for a moment."

The girl cracked her knuckles threateningly, facing the wall. "If you two aren't out here in five seconds, I swear I will tan your hides and dry them for leather."

Within three seconds, two boys sprinted over to where the two girls had been conversing. They evidently took Noelle's claims seriously. Mai hid a grin at their antics. Noelle was a lot like her… It was actually kind of strange, in a nice way.

The boys were exact opposites of each other. One's hair was red and spiky, while the other's was long and blue. The redhead stepped forward confidently with a wide smirk on his countenance. "Huh, we both know you wouldn't carry out that threat, No-noes."

"DON'T call me that." Noelle gritted her teeth. "You know how much I hate that nickname!"

The blue haired boy smirked, much like his friend. "That's why we use it, right, Lea?" The other boy nodded smugly. Noelle sighed, before gesturing towards Mai.

"Can it, you two. You're giving our guest a bad impression." Noelle turned to the blonde girl, who felt somewhat out of place. "These two idiots are my friends. The red pyromaniac is Lea, and the 'cool' guy over here is Isa."

Lea winked flirtatiously at Mai, causing a smile to creep up on her face. It wasn't every day that a hot guy would talk to her… Actually, it was, and she had just left said hot guy on another world. Why was she so dumb?

"Pleased to meet you." Isa stuck a hand out formally. Mai stared at it as if it was an evil bug. What was it with people and being so uptight?

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug. Isa opened and closed his mouth several times, a light pink dusting across his cheeks. He looked appealingly at Lea for help, but received only a smirk in return. Finally, Mai released him and then set her eyes on her next victim; Lea.

He held his arms open wide, causing Mai to reconsider her intentions. She wasn't so keen on giving a hug to someone who actually wanted one, especially when he seemed to be a player. "No hug for you, mister."

Lea pouted comically. "I deserve one too, raspberry."

"WHAT did you just call me?" Mai snarled, not taking kindly to the new nickname she had been christened with.

He shrugged. "It fits you. You're sour, then sweet, see? It's kind of like Noelle's personality, except it's the other way around." Lea threw an arm jokingly around the brunette. "She looked pretty sweet until I asked her out. Then she got all sour on me, see." Mai laughed at the death glare Noelle was sending at the redhead. She could definitely sense some chemistry between those two. Poor Isa must feel like a third wheel all the time with them.

"Hey!" Noelle growled, punching him in the shoulder. "I hadn't ever met you before when you asked me out! Of course I was gonna beat you up, pervert!" This began a major squabble, which Mai tuned herself out to.

Speaking of Isa, he wasn't half-bad either. Any guy with blue hair seemed pretty awesome to her. Mai nudged the bluenette at her side. "Are they always like this?"

"Pretty much." Isa muttered. "It gets kind of lonely sometimes, like they're the fire, and I'm the water that puts them out. It also gets kind of tiring to have to keep separating them all the time." He yawned to punctuate his point. "Speaking of which, I believe it's about time to do that." The bluenette started forward, but Mai put out a hand to stop him.

"Here, let me handle this." She waited a second to see if the two were still arguing, then took out one of her metal fans. "Watch and learn."

With a flick of her wrist, the blonde girl produced a loud sound that cracked the eardrums of everyone around her. Lea turned and glared at Mai, who was now holding a fully opened fan. **(That was for you, Tiff XD)**

"What the heck was that, raspberry?"

"That was rude, you know?" Noelle crossed her arms. "Interrupting our little discussion like that."

"Well, it was rude of _you _to leave _us _out of _your_ 'discussion.' " Mai air quoted with her fingers. The two spitfires looked at each other guiltily and then looked at Isa and Mai.

"Sorry, you two." Lea scratched his hair spikes. "We tend to get a little too in to our little spats."

"I know." Isa said dryly. "It's okay." He turned to Mai with a nod of gratitude. "Thanks."

"No prob." Mai replied easily. "Hey, do you think you three could give me a tour of this place? I need to kill some time until my friend gets here."

"Yeah, sure. Who's your friend?" Noelle inquired, her interest peaked. "Guy or girl?"

Mai laughed. "Guy. Definitely a guy. His name's Ventus. He'll be along later."

"Can't wait to meet your boyfriend." Lea teased, flipping his scarf over his shoulder. Isa narrowed his eyes at the mention of Mai's guy friend, but passed it off as a blink. No one needed to know of his secret fascination with the female newcomer.

"Follow me." Isa said shortly, turning to go up the staircase.

"You sure asked the right people," Noelle skipped after her friend, "we know all the nooks and crannies of Radiant Garden."

Lea snickered. "Yeah, we're the proud street rats of this town. We steal food when we're hungry, and sleep where we want to. Which is usually at home, but still, you get my point."

Noelle looked back at Mai. "Speaking of which, you're probably hungry. Let's get you some grub. There's a really good creperie around the corner. Hope you're not too picky about what you eat."

* * *

What had she gotten herself in to? Here she was, preparing to steal for the very first time from a restaurant. If she hadn't been on Santa's naughty list before, she certainly would be now.

Lea beckoned towards her, and the four got in a huddle. "On three, we all mob the man serving the food. It looks like he has two crepes, so we'll just have to split them between us. Got it memorized?" The other three nodded in affirmation. Although Mai felt terrible about stealing, she had to admit that meeting these three was one of the things that had happened in her life.

"One…" He began, before Noelle quickly cut him off.

"Two-three! Let's move, people! Go, go, go!" Mai spared a second to enjoy Lea's irritated expression, before delving into the crowd. _This restaurant must be really famous_. Mai thought as she pushed past countless figures. _There are WAY too many people here._

Popping out from the swarm of customers, Mai spotted her target. It looked like none of her friends were there yet, so she gulped and snuck behind the waiter. Isa emerged from the crowd and gave her a thumbs up.

Mai squeezed her eyes shut and leaped on the man's back to distract him. She held on to his neck tightly as he spun around to try to get her off. By now, quite a few people had come over to see what the spectacle was about. Mai couldn't believe she was thinking this, but she was actually enjoying herself. It kind of felt like a rodeo.

Since the waiter was fully occupied, the other three grabbed the platter with the steaming crepes and gave Mai the signal to run away. Disappointedly, she released the man and bowed to the customers watching. "Thank you, thank you." Mai flourished her hand around. "This was a one-time performance, so any tips are much appreciated."

The waiter fumed, his face turning purple in fury. This girl had totally disrespected him in front of all their beloved customers! Still… there was nothing he could do about it. With a sigh of resignation, he went back to the kitchen to remake the lost food. Someday, he'd get them back for it.

To her shock, many people tossed out coins. "Thank you all! You're a great crowd!" Mai grinned widely, bowing again. She collected all the money, and then ran to meet her friends.

"Nice job." Isa commented. "I don't believe we've ever gained that much munny in one go."

Lea stood there in shock. "I can't believe it! You beat me! A girl beat me!"

"Is that a sexist reference to my gender?" Both Noelle and Mai put their hands on their hips angrily. "Holy crap…" They both muttered again, looking at each other warily.

"No!" Lea moaned in despair. "There's two of them. Make it all stop!"

"Sure thing." A deep voice spoke out from a nearby alley. Mai cringed, then looked at the man behind her. His dark grey hair was slicked back and streaked with lighter highlights and a ripped red scarf hung on his neck. In his gloved hands were two purple guns. He looked like a pretty gnarly guy. "Now dudes, and dudettes, that was pretty rude of you to steal that restaurant's food. Did you think you could get away with that crime?"

Mai nodded snarkily. The man leaned forward and met her eyes.

"As if! You four hotshots are coming with me, conscious or not." The quartet looked at each other nervously, and mutually decided to make a run for it. Lea held a hand behind his back with three fingers pointing out. One went down, then another, and then finally, the third disappeared into his fist.

"Go!" Noelle blurted out, darting to the right. The others followed suit, with Isa going left and Lea going back the way they'd came. This left Mai alone with the man, meaning she'd have to go straight through him, unless she'd rather let him go after her new friends.

"Well, dudette. Looks like you're stuck here with me." He stretched his hand out towards her, but Mai wasn't having any of it.

"Nope, think again!" She slammed her fist down on her armor piece and let it cover her entire body. "See ya later, dude!"

Opening a portal to the Lanes Between, Mai zoomed into it and let it close behind her. Once inside, she slouched with an audible sigh of relief.

* * *

Back at Radiant Garden, the man smirked darkly. "So that must have been the fourth apprentice, am I right, old coot?"

The bald man walked out the portal of darkness ominously. "You are correct, Braig. Keep an eye on her, she's a tricky one."

"Heh, as if! What damage could a little girl like that do to me? My Arrowguns could easily take her out."

Xehanort shook his head. "Don't underestimate the power of that girl's heart. She has one of pure light, nigh impossible to break through." He turned and walked back into another portal, sending a few last words over his shoulder. "I'll meet you in the basement. Don't forget what you have to do."

Braig grinned. "I won't. I'm looking forward to it too much." He set his eyes onto the castle, reloading his guns. "Oh yeah, this'll be fun."

* * *

Mai had been lost in thought, not really paying attention to where she was going, when she noticed a flash of blue to her left. _Funny, you don't see that many people in the Lanes Between… Who could that be?_

Flying closer, Mai deduced that it was her adopted older sister, Aqua. No one else could have had an air ship like that. "Hey, Aqua!" She accelerated. "Wait up!"

* * *

**_That's the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!_**

**_Braig: She stole my catchphrase! So not cool, dude. *pouts*_**

**_Oh, shut up, Braig. Let's see… Today I'll thank .Ookami. I know I've mentioned this person before, but they always leave nice reviews. Thanks so much!_**

**_Hope you all enjoyed my new charrie, Noelle. And yes, this fic is a bit of a Lea/OC. Just a tad. And there will be some Axel/OC throughout the rest of the trilogy. This isn't an Isa/OC fic, though. Any person would be interested by a random girl showing up in their hometown, right? I think so._**

**_Anyone think it was eerie that Mai and Noelle were so alike? If you can guess exactly what happened in both of their pasts, then you are psychic. Leave lots of reviews! _**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	13. Chapter 12: A Duck and a Mouse

**_Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. You all know what I'm going to say, so I'll just keep it simple. Me no own Kingdom Hearts._**

**_There ya go. Enjoy and review!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 12: A Duck and a Mouse_**

****_"Aqua!" She accelerated. "Wait up!"_

The bluenette had been so focused on following her other friend that she nearly didn't notice the voice of another behind her. Why did she sound so familiar? Could it be Mai?

Aqua looped around to face her follower, only to be crashed into by a shorter armored girl. She held out the person who had rammed into her at arms length, trying to see through the helmet. "Mai? Is that you?"

The unknown person rubbed the back of their head embarrassedly. "Gee, Aqua! You don't recognize me? Honestly, after that crash, I figured that for sure, you would know."

Aqua smiled behind her mask, pulling Mai in for a hug. "I missed you and I'm glad you're okay. However, weren't you with Ventus? I saw him at Enchanted Dominion, but we didn't really get a chance to talk because he ran off somewhere." She didn't mention the fact that Maleficent had told them about Terra taking Aurora's heart. Aqua didn't want Mai to lose hope in her friend, because it seemed that this news had taken a large toll on Ven's heart, as well as hers.

Mai sighed inwardly in relief. She was glad he was okay after he had left her. "How did you know that? Were you following us?" She paused a moment. "And how was he doing with retrieving Aurora's heart?"

"Nope. I just figured that there was no other duo that could have made such a mess at the Castle of Dreams." Aqua laughed as Mai sweatdropped. "I don't know, but when I came to the Enchanted Dominion, I saw a heart flying off towards the castle, so I'm assuming Ventus was successful."

"Good." Mai felt another wave of relief crash on her. "Yeah… Let's just say we had a bad experience with two very ugly stepsisters there. Of course, I had to put them in their place!"

"Oh, Mai. When will you ever learn?" Aqua shook her head despairingly before continuing to a more serious issue. "So the question now is, where is Ven?"

Mai shrugged despairingly. "I told him I'd meet him on the next world, which was Radiant Garden. I was just there, though, and he wasn't anywhere to be found."

At Mai's downcast tone, Aqua laid a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find him. Let's go back down and search again. Once we do find him, you two are going straight home, got it?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow in disbelief. If Aqua thought she would be coming along home like a docile toddler, then she must have lost her memory in the short time they'd been apart. _Whatever. I'll just sneak away last minute with Ventus again._

"Fine." Mai pretended to promise, crossing her fingers behind her back. "Now let's move it."

The two landed in the same courtyard Mai had before, but this time, there was no welcoming committee like before. Mai felt a twinge of sadness as she remembered the sudden way that Noelle had attacked her. _I hope they escaped… Although they did split on me… _Mai crinkled her nose. _Every woman for herself, I guess._

She started as she noticed a duck in civilian clothes coming towards them, cane in hand. "What the – "

Aqua shushed her with a rapidly hissed statement. "Shh! He might be able to help us!"

Grumpily crossing her arms, Mai waited as Aqua went up to greet the waddling duck. "Talking animals… The other worlds are so strange."

"Excuse me!" Aqua waved a hand towards the suited duck. "I'm terribly sorry to bother you, sir."

The duck somewhat smiled in a birdlike way. "Ach, what a well-mannered lass ye are. I'd be pleased as punch to help you if I can." Mai was a little weirded out by the duck's Scottish accent, and was wondering what punch had to do with being pleased.

"I'm looking for a boy who's not from around here. Have you seen him?" Aqua knelt down to his level.

The duck tilted his head. "Hmmm… I think I know just who you're talking about."

Mai suddenly jumped into the conversation. "Where'd he go?"

The duck chuckled. "He scampered off toward yon castle in a right hurry."

"Thank you so much!" Mai blurted out, dashing to the castle ahead. "I'll see you around!"

This castle had been intriguing her for a while, but she hadn't gotten a chance to explore it. Hopefully, she wouldn't run into that guard guy again. Mai held back a shudder. He had been really scary, though she loathed to admit it. He had a sense of darkness about him, and Mai wouldn't be surprised if that gun dude was in cahoots with the baldy.

Back at the courtyard, Aqua let out a moan of frustration. Just when she had gotten a hold of one blonde, she slipped right out of her grasp. "Terra… I hope you're still there. God knows I need help here…" With that, she set off after Mai, muttering about disobedient, runaway teenagers.

* * *

Gasping for breath, Mai collapsed at the top of the stairs. "Finally! That only took me like, 20 million hours! God, I need to get in shape."

A hand was offered to her, and Mai followed the arm up to the face. "Noelle!" She cheered.

"Hey." Noelle smirked. "Miss me?"

Mai sniffed, putting her nose in the air. "Of course not!"

"Aw, that hurts, raspberry." Mai whirled around at the nickname. That could only mean one thing…

"Lea." She nodded. "Isa, nice to see you again." The bluenette boy stood next to his redhead companion. "By the way, thanks for running out on me, you guys! I nearly died out there!"

"Heh. Well, you didn't, so no harm done." Lea shot back. "Besides, how did you get out of there?"

Mai winked cheekily. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out. Although," she added thoughtfully, "Noelle will probably tell you as soon as I leave. Whatever." She shrugged indifferently.

"Why are you here?" Isa inquired bluntly, gesturing at the castle behind them.

"Okay, straight to the point, then." Mai rubbed her eyes. "You know that friend I told you about? Well, I kind of left out something important. We had a fight, and I ran away, and I assumed he would find me later." She let her face fall into one hand. "The thing is, though, that he hasn't found me yet, so I'm going to find him."

"Hey, raspberry, we can help."

Mai turned to look at him. "Really? That would be great!"

Noelle grabbed her shoulder with a big grin. "You and me are together, girl. You don't know your way around the Gardens as well as I do." She nodded towards Lea. "You go to the courtyards around where Mai came in, and Isa, you go to the alleyways by the restaurants. Split!"

Instantaneously, the quartet became a duo of girls. "Wow… That was fast." Noelle commented, scratching her head.

Nodding in agreement, Mai suddenly felt something around her waist loosen. She grabbed it quickly before it could fall to the ground, and realized that in her hand was the pouch she usually had on her hip. Inside was a picture of her and Ventus; the same one that had been in the pouch back at the Land of Departure.

With a wavering attempt at a smile, Mai tucked the picture into her top, where it could be closest to her heart. "So, where do we search?"

Noelle opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the arrival of Aqua on the scene. "Mai…" The bluenette started towards her furiously. "Don't you dare go running off on me again!"

"Geez, Aqua, take a chill pill." Mai held her hands up innocently. "I was just looking for my friends, as in plural. As in, not just Ventus."

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "Ah, I see. And who might this person be?"

Adjusting her staff holder, Noelle introduced herself nonchalantly. "Noelle's the name. I was just helping Mai look for her boyfriend." The blonde girl flushed at the continued assumption that Noelle tended to use.

"He's NOT my boyfriend, for the last time!" Mai groaned. _Not yet, anyways._

Unbeknownst to the two arguing teenagers, several Unversed appeared scattered around the courtyard. Only when a little girl screamed in terror was when the three girls were alerted of their presence. "Unversed!" Aqua and Mai spat out in unison, both summoning their keyblades.

"Not fair!" Noelle took her staff out from its sheathe. "You get one too?"

Aqua saved her response to the brunette's statement for later. For now, it was time to kick some serious Unversed butts and to get that little girl out of danger. "Aqua! You get that girl out of here! Noelle and I will get rid of these nuisances."

Nodding tersely, and getting a little ticked off at Mai giving her orders, Aqua pulled the shivering redhead aside to safety, clutching Rainfall in her right hand. "You okay?" Aqua asked worriedly, looking into the girl's blue eyes. She felt her heart skip when she felt the girl's pure heart. _I can feel the light…_

"Mm." The girl nodded. "Are those your friends?"

"Yeah…" The bluenette trailed off as she watched the two fight, narrowing her eyes as she inspected them. There was something off about that Noelle person, but Aqua couldn't quite put her finger on it. Was she imagining things? Probably.

"Then you should go help them." The girl smiled prettily at her. "Friends should always stick together."

She hesitated for a second, then dashed off tersely. That girl was wise beyond her years… "Thanks…"

* * *

The blur of blue spinning around her made it hard for Mai to focus on what she was attacking. The Unversed all seemed to blend in to each other, like some kind of bizarre snowstorm, and the blonde struggled to keep herself from collapsing out of dizziness. "Get it together, Mai!" She slapped her cheeks when there was a short pause in the melee. "You can't let these blueberries beat you!"

While she was distracted, a single Unversed sprang from the midst of the crowd and stretched out a claw, its glowing red eyes glistening with the thirst for blood. Dreams Light was brought up too slow to block the incoming strike, and Mai fell back hard as the weight of the demon pushed her down to the stone floor, wincing as she felt the creature make a deep scratch below her left eye. "That's it!"

Everything became enshrouded in a red haze, and every moving being became a target to Mai. Deep down, she knew that she was utilizing the darkness in her heart to increase her strength, but her fury was too great to control. The blonde girl didn't even notice when Aqua joined the fray, and nearly strangled Noelle with her keyblade a time or two. When all the Unversed were finally vanquished, Mai's strange inner beast went with it, and she was left confused at what had possessed her.

"Was that… me?" She whispered, looking back and forth between her hands. "It can't have been…"

Noelle bounced over to her friend with a hand held up for a high-five. "Dang, girl! That was awesome! Give me five!" She held her hand out, waiting for Mai's hand to meet hers. Noelle wilted when it didn't happen, then bit her lip when she realized that something was wrong. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah…" She played with her side skirts. "I think so…"

Aqua banished her weapon and headed over to the younger girls. Throughout the battle, Mai had fought in a passionate frenzy, annihilating anything that stood in her way. However, there was no telltale purple or black smoke around Mai when this occurred, so Aqua was puzzled as to what exactly had happened. _Could it be that strange connection that Master Eraqus had mentioned so long ago? _The bluenette's mouth fell open a bit. _But then that would mean… Is that even possible?_

"Aqua?" Mai waved a hand up and down in front of her friend's blank face. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

Startled out of her reverie, the bluenette smiled in affirmative, and then headed over to the now-calm girl. "You were very brave." Aqua praised, ruffling the girl's hair.

"Yes, you were." A mouse came up on the little girl's other side. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner, but it seems that you beat those Unversed pretty easily."

"Who're you?" Mai demanded, summoning Dreams Light. "Why do you have a keyblade?" For in the mouse's hand was a keyblade shaped after the moon and the stars. Mai had never heard of another keyblade wielder besides herself, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Master Eraqus, and the old hunchback.

"Do they just hand these out somewhere?" Noelle muttered sarcastically.

"I'm Mickey!" The mouse held out a hand in turn to each girl, seemingly ignoring the keyblade question for now.

"My name is Aqua. My friend, Mai, and I train under Master Eraqus."

"I'm Noelle." The brunette rolled her eyes. "Been meeting a lot of new people lately…."

"Oh! I used to be Yen Sid's apprentice. I came back to him for some more training." Mickey waved his hands around, causing Mai to take a second look. Did he only have four fingers?

"I sense light within this girl." Aqua replied, kneeling down to Mickey's height. "You think that's why they attacked her?"

Taking a second look, Mai could indeed sense this girl's heart and its contents. This redhead's heart was as full of light as Snow White's and Cinderella's were. However, no matter how interesting this was, Mai needed to get a move on with finding Ventus. Noelle was watching her for any further plans, and Mai gestured towards the brunette, pointing back down the stairs.

"Yep, I think you're right. If ya ask me – "

Mai cut him off out of necessity. It wasn't as if she didn't like this guy, but she needed to find her friend. "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I'm searching for my friend, Ventus. Have you seen him anywhere?"

"Actually, I have." The mouse brightened. "He was on the Keyblade Graveyard. I helped him fight the Unversed. Now he's probably at Radiant Garden somewhere, same as you. He asked about you, too, now that I think about it."

As if from some magic spell, Mai's entire face beamed light. "Thank you so much, Mickey! It was nice to meet you, but I _need _to go find him. He's very important to me." She shook his hand vigorously and then grabbed onto Noelle's. "C'mon, Noelle! Let's get going!"

" 'Kay." Noelle nodded to the other two in turn, and then was dragged by Mai to the staircase.

The two raced off again, with no particular direction in mind. They only stopped when a giant shadow was cast across them. Mai gulped and looked up, only to see a large Unversed flying above them.

Noelle looked around them to see that they were standing only on a platform of glass that could easily shatter with enough impact. Not the best place for a battle.

"Crap…" Mai summoned Dreams Light. "Noelle, you go get Aqua. I'll be fine here for a bit." Noelle hesitated, half drawing out her staff. "Go!"

"Be right back!" She blurted out, sprinting away.

Mai moved into a battle stance **(Imagine a stance like Sora's.) **with a grimace on her face that only lifted when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Mai!"

* * *

**_Like this chapter? I hope you did ^^ I did a little foreshadowing with Aqua's thoughts. See if you can guess what I'm planning on doing with it. _**

**_By the way, this will most likely be a three or four part series. Just this morning, I thought of another idea that I think I'm going to do. After all, Mai needs to hand down her keyblade to someone at some point._**

**_ Anyways, please review and leave comments! Thank you ^.^_**

**_-SoraMaiDay_**


	14. Chapter 13: A Heartbreaking Reunion

**_Disclaimer: I own Mai, Noelle, and the soon-to-be-seen Dayna (pronounced dai-nah). However, I do not in any way own Kingdom Hearts… Sadly._**

**_I realized that I forgot to thank a reviewer last chapter, so sorry about that XP Today, I'll thank WitchofDreamsandAwesomeMagic. She's left a review or two now, and I really appreciate it ^^_**

**_On with the show! Enjoy :)_**

* * *

**_Chapter 13: A Heartbreaking Reunion_**

_"Mai!" _

A deep, masculine voice behind the blonde called out in surprise. Ashamedly, Mai felt her heart drop in disappointment because there was another specific male voice that she had been wanting to hear. "Terra! Get your butt over here and give me some back up!"

A hint of a laugh could be heard in his reply. "Yes, ma'am!" Soon, he was beside her, keyblade at the ready. "I suppose it's no use telling you to go home, is it?"

Mai shook her head adamantly. "Nope. Don't you dare."

As they were conversing, the three Unversed above them combined to create a gigantic suit of armor. "Oh crap. Where do these things come from?" Mai groaned, holding Dreams Light at the ready. "Where's Noelle with that back up?"

The Unversed swooped down on them, and only stopped when a blue keyblade halted its progress. "Aqua!" Mai gasped in relief, holding a hand to her heart. The bluenette forced the Unversed back with Rainfall, her arms wavering with the brute force that was needed. "Less talk, more fight." Aqua gritted out.

"Aye, aye!" Mai aimed for the feet, hitting them with multiple strikes of lightning. "Like it?" She asked mockingly as a foot disappeared with an explosion of green healing orbs. "Why, thank you."

Suddenly, she felt the sunlight get blocked from its warm presence on her back. "What the – " Mai looked up to see a fist coming towards her face, getting ready to slam her to the ground. It was too late to defend herself now, and the Unversed's power would have been too much for her to handle anyways.

Both Aqua and Terra hadn't noticed her predicament, and Mai accepted that this strike would be a knockout, for sure. She braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut and listening to the rapid beating of her heart. However, the hit she was waiting for never came, and she felt the cold shadow of the Unversed move from her body. She opened one eye cautiously, then the other followed. Beside Mai was her savior, her best friend, and her love; Ventus.

"Ven!" Mai got to her feet clumsily, wanting to hug him. "I'm so sorry! I'll never leave your side again. That was really stupid of me, and – "

"Hey," Ventus interrupted gently, "it's okay. We'll talk later, this time for sure. All right?" Mai nodded, feeling her heart soar. "You got my back?"

"Yeah, always."

The two went back to back as the Unversed's hands attempted to crush them from both sides. Mai fought it furiously, pushing the hand away with many random strikes. After a while, the hand dispersed into the green orbs once again. By that time, Ven had defeated the other hand, and Aqua and Terra were working on the main torso.

"Freeze!" Aqua shouted, aiming blue crystals at the Unversed as Terra leaped in the air, and completed a downward strike through its body. The two hits finished off the remaining leg. "Terra!" She ran towards the remaining part of the Unversed.

"Ven! Mai! Now!" He shouted, signaling the two to come from the other directions.

"C'mon!" Ventus leaped into the air, readying his keyblade for a downwards slash. The quartet were all airborne for a few seconds, and yet it seemed like an eternity.

"Woohoo!" Mai cheered as she and Aqua let gravity pull them down through the foe, reaching out and landing hits on the torso. Terra and Ventus did the same combo, but slashed diagonally in an "X" formation.

The Unversed shuddered in midair, then collapsed on the glass platform heavily with fumes of darkness emitting from its body. Unsurprisingly, the glass shattered with the impact, and Mai was right on the edge of the mess. Letting out a scream of fear, Mai grasped desperately in the air for something solid to grab on to. One hand clawed onto a pipe while the other dangled helplessly below. She risked a look downwards, then turned deathly pale.

"Ven! Help me!" She wailed as she felt her fingers begin to slip. "Terra! Aqua!" Sweat beaded on her forehead and her hand began to burn with the weight of her whole body. One finger let go of the yellow pipe.

Up on solid ground, Ventus looked around frantically for something he could use to pull her up. His keyblade was too short, and so were Terra and Aqua's. The two older pupils stood there in shock, their mouths left open.

"Need a little help, lover boy?" A brown staff hit him on the head and Ventus automatically grabbed it. He would save his retort to this stranger's statement for later.

Extending the staff over the edge, Ventus called out to Mai, who was staring up at him with pure panic in her eyes. "Mai! Grab onto the staff!"

She adjusted her grip on the pipe, and attempted to swing her right hand up to get the yellow pipe. Luckily, it succeeded, and the blonde girl relaxed at her steadier position. "I'll try!"

Ventus watched as she reached up to grab the staff with a shaking hand. "C'mon! You can do it!" He encouraged, pushing the staff a little further. Mai creased her face in concentration, and pushed her feet against the wall.

"Here goes nothing…" She muttered, then pushed off the hard surface. This force gave her the length needed to grab onto the wooden staff. "Pull me up, pull me up, pull me up!" Mai shut her eyes. The staff was pretty smooth, so it was hard for her hands to find enough strength to hold on.

With a final heave, assisted by the brunette stranger, Ventus pulled a trembling Mai onto the stone ground. "Oh. My. God." Mai kissed the rock beneath her. "Never again."

"Everything okay over there?" Aqua inquired, walking over to the three. She felt a bit guilty that she hadn't been able to help. Mai nodded, letting Noelle and Ven pull her up to her feet.

Terra followed the bluenette. "Got 'im. We make a good team." He paid no heed to the brunette girl who had assisted Mai. She was most likely of no importance.

"Sure do!" Ventus said in agreement. He turned towards the stranger. "Who are you? And why did you call me lover boy?"

"I'm Noelle." She snatched her staff back deftly. "And that's my staff. Hey Mai, I can see the connection." Noelle winked cheekily at her friend, causing the blonde girl to flush pink again.

"Oh, shut up."

Coughing, Ventus commandeered their attention once more. "Oh, yeah! Before I forget, I have lifetime passes to Disney Town!" He handed one to Aqua, who accepted it with a surprised expression. Terra received one as well, and pocketed it for later use. "He said to take two grown-ups." The two "grown-ups" chuckled.

"You mean us?" Aqua laughed, wiping her eyes. She hadn't ever really thought about her and Terra being adults before, but she guessed it was true.

Mai waited expectantly for hers, but didn't get one. "Aw, where's mine?" She pouted, utilizing her emerald puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry, the duck only gave me three passes." Ventus apologized. "But here, you can have mine."

Mai pushed his hand away. "You keep it. I'll just buy one if we ever go there."

At this point, Noelle felt very out of place. These four were obviously best friends, and she felt strange intruding on such a moment. She was about to creep away, when Ventus turned to face her. "Hey. You and Mai seem like good friends, so thanks for watching out for her when I wasn't able to. I wish I could give you a Disney Town pass, too."

Noelle blushed, and Mai's razor sharp eyes picked up on it. "Aw, that's sweet of you, Ven. I can see why she likes you so much."

Ventus only raised an eyebrow. By now, they had gone through this path several times throughout the different worlds, and he was pretty used to it. In fact, Ven was actually starting to like the common assumption.

Deciding to interrupt their discussion, Aqua interjected again. "Listen to me, Ven, Mai. We need to get you home – "

"It's okay, Aqua." Ventus insisted. "Trust me, that guy in the mask is history. He'll never badmouth Terra and Mai again!"

Mai's ears perked up. "What guy in the mask? What are you hiding from me, Ven?" He shrunk back a bit. "Oh, and Aqua? I crossed my fingers." She smiled evilly. "So that promise I made... It wasn't really a promise at all. Sorry!"

Aqua put a hand to her forehead in exhaustion. Why would they never listen? Her thoughts were interrupted by Terra clapping a hand on Ven's shoulder urgently.

"You saw the boy in the mask?" He demanded.

"Y-yes?" Ventus ended with a slight question in his tone. Terra let go of him after Mai sent him a glare.

"Vanitas…"

"Who?" Mai couldn't hear exactly what he said. "Fajitas? Sounds good, I'm starved." Terra facepalmed before continuing on.

"You two let Aqua take you home."

"No way!" Mai growled. "We wanna go with you guys!"

"You can't." Terra said harshly. "We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want you guys to get hurt."

"Um…" The quartet's heads swung to face Noelle. "It may not be my place to say this, but I think they're strong enough to defend themselves. Mai was able to throw me off, which is something no one else has been able to do before."

"Thank you!" Mai threw her hands up in the air. "Geez…"

"And what is this dangerous task, Terra?" Aqua asked suspiciously. "It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do." Mai's eyes widened. Was Aqua doubting Terra's intentions? How could she? He was their friend, no matter what.

"Aqua! Terra can take care of himself." Mai crossed her arms. "How can you not trust him?"

The bluenette opened her mouth to reply, only to have Terra cut her off. _Dang, I guess we do cut each other off a lot. _"It might be a different route, but I'm fighting the darkness."

"I'm not so sure." Aqua looked down. "I've been to the same worlds as you and I've seen what you've done. You shouldn't put yourself so close to the darkness."

Terra's eyes narrowed, and Mai took a step back. This reunion wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. Ventus clenched a fist. "Listen to yourself, Aqua! Terra would never – "

"You mean you've been spying on me?" Terra's tone blazed with cold fury, with betrayal lurking in the depths of his silver eyes. "Is that what he said to do? The Master's orders?"

Ventus looked up to Aqua with pain in his eyes, and Mai grabbed his hand gently. They would stand together through this trial. "Aqua…" He said softly, as if he was a puppy kicked by his master.

"I get it." The muscular keyblade wielder turned away, shoulders tensed, heading to the exit.

"Terra!" Mai cried out, running after him and letting go of Ven's hand. Scalding tears rose in her eyes and began trickling down her cheeks. This wasn't supposed to happen! Her heart was burning painfully in her chest and Mai bit her lip to keep a sob from coming out.

"Just stay put!" Terra snarled. "I'm on my own now, all right?"

"Terra…" Mai let out a low keen. Noelle placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "No…"

"Terra, please! Listen!" Aqua begged. "The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! He was just worried!" Terra showed no sign of having heard Aqua's pleas.

Ventus shook his head sadly. "You're awful, Aqua." He went over to Mai and took her hand, leading her out of the shattered arena.

"How could you?" Mai's eyes glimmered with unshed tears. "How could you, Aqua?" She repeated, her voice breaking on the last syllable. Noelle took one glance at the bluenette, then followed the two out.

"I thought you were pretty cool…" Noelle shrugged. "I guess I was wrong."

Aqua held on tightly to her Wayfinder, guilt drenching her heart. "So now you know the truth. But the Master loves Terra, and you know that too."

Ventus stopped walking. "Were you also 'ordered' to take me home?" Aqua coughed, glancing away. "Aqua… Now that you're a Keyblade Master, you've let it go to your head."

Mai picked up where he let off, wiping her eyes. "We're gonna go find Terra. Goodbye, Aqua." The trio left, with Ventus casting one last regretful glance at the woman left behind.

The bluenette stood alone in the broken courtyard that seemingly represented her heart at the moment. "Terra… Mai… Ven…"

The sun shone on brightly in the blue sky, radiantly beaming on the four heartbroken figures going their separate ways below. Ironic weather for such a sorrowful time.

* * *

The three teenagers ran in silence as Mai's tears finally subsided. She was determined to find Terra and make things right. Aqua would catch up to them, and then she would apologize to Terra, and the quartet would all go home to the Land of Departure. Together, as a family.

They broke out into the courtyard where Mai had landed both times. In the center was a grey haired boy, surrounded by Flood Unversed. Strangely, the boy showed no fear, only curiosity; Mai had to commend him for that.

Noelle immediately dashed over. "Ienzo! What're you doing out of the castle?" The boy shrugged and let the brunette lead him out of the range of battle.

Ventus summoned his keyblade and Mai took out her double fans. Between them, they quickly extinguished all of the evil life forms around the courtyard. Mai sighed in relief, her muscles aching due to all the fighting they'd done that day. The sun was starting to set in the distance, reminding Mai that they needed to find somewhere to spend the night, and somewhere to eat. She never did get a bite of that crepe, in the end.

"Ienzo, where are you?" A blonde man with long hair called out, striding through the courtyard. "Answer me." Noelle pushed the boy forward, and he walked over obediently to the older man. "Ah, there you are. Didn't I warn you not to wander off, child?" He faced Ventus and Mai. "I see we owe you our thanks. We have done our best to raise the boy, since his poor parents are not here to do it."

Mai kneeled down to look the boy in his one eye, for the other was covered by a mass of grey hair. He stared unblinkingly back at her. "No problem. It was nice to meet you, Ienzo." Mai held a hand out, which the boy took blankly.

"Oh, you're on your own, huh?" Ventus asked kindly. When he received no words in return, he turned his attention to the older man. "Sir, I'm looking for a friend of mine."

"He's a tall guy, dressed kind of like these two goobers." Noelle smirked. "Have you seen him, Even?"

The man wrinkled his nose at the infamous streetrat, not having noticed her before. "Hmmm… Perhaps I did see him in the Outer Gardens. I'm sure Noelle can show you the way."

Getting up, Mai thanked the man, and followed Noelle down the road and through a gate. Ventus stayed behind for a minute to hear Even's response. "No, thank you, for keeping Ienzo out of harm's way. And… Well, let's say I have a feeling we are destined to cross paths again." Even smiled secretly as he led Ienzo away. He loved confusing people.

"Huh?" Ventus scratched his head, then followed the two girls out to the gardens. Hopefully, Terra would be just beyond that gate and they could all explore the worlds together. However, the fates had decided that it wasn't destined to be, and no one ever could change their life's path once it was set.

* * *

**_ Ze end! Hope you liked this chapter. It was chock full of drama and angst, which I thought was good. It seemed like this story was going on a path of super happy hyperness, so I thought it was time to fix that. Anyways, it could get a bit more angsty as we near the end of the story, but that's only to be expected._**

**_This chapter is unlucky number 13! AKA, Roxas' chapter ^^ He will make an appearance later in the series because he's my second favorite charrie. _**

**_Recently I've been playing through KH 1 again, and I remembered why I dislike the first game so much. Stupid Olympus Coliseum and its stupid tournaments..._**

**_Stay tuned, and I'll try to upload two chapters before I leave for my camping trip!_**

**_- SoraMaiDay_**


	15. Chapter 14: Revelations from the Heart

**_ Disclaimer:_**

**_ Dayna: SoraMaiDay doesn't own Kingdom Hearts. She does own me, in a way, though, because she created me. Well, technically none of you have met me yet, but you will soon. *smiles adorably*_**

**_ Mai: Sadly, she owns me as well. And Noelle…. We don't need your pity, so don't you dare give us any. *glares*_**

**_ Anyways, thanks to Neusuada for giving me a great idea and for leaving great reviews :) She's my mention for this chapter. Now, on with the show! I warn you, this is a major fluff chapter! Lots of MaiVen stuffs. Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 14: Revelations From the Heart_**

"I'm beginning to think you're leading us in the wrong direction." Mai grumbled, back to her usual self now that she had been given time to recover from her emotional breakdown. "We've been walking for ages."

Noelle shrugged. "I'm pretty sure this is the right way, seeing as we've just arrived at our destination. Oh, and look; there's that hot friend of yours." She nudged Mai forward as the three stopped moving. "Go get 'em." Mai's face burst in a grin and she ran over to Terra without a second thought. Ventus nodded once in gratitude at the brunette, then followed his companion.

"Terra!" Mai screeched as she came over, thwacking him on the head with a fan. "How dare you run off on us like that! You made me – us – so worried!" She sniffled, turning her face away so that he couldn't see her reddened eyes. It was best to act angry because sadness would only provoke pity, and Mai didn't want any of that.

The brunette guy just rubbed his head and looked down, not responding verbally. "Why won't you just talk to me?" Mai whispered, peering up at his downcast face. "I was there when Xehanort told you those things, remember? I have complete faith that you'll do the right thing, and I'll always trust you. So, please, don't keep your heart locked up to everyone. It'll only worsen the pain inside." Mai watched Terra's impassive face and noted that there had been a flash of guilt across his countenance.

Of course, Ventus had to ruin the moment by crashing into the conversation. "Terra!" He doubled over, gasping for breath. "Take us with you!"

"I'm sorry, Mai, Ven, I can't do that." Terra said somberly.

"And he talks!" Mai threw her hands up exasperatedly. "Why the hell can't we?"

Ventus stared at her, mouth agape. "Mai! Language."

She glared back. "Bite me."

"I just – " Terra cut himself off, letting out a deep breath. "When I really need you guys, I know you'll be there by my side. I have as much faith in you, as you two have in me. I'm sure our hearts will call out to each other and lead us to meet once again."

"Why wouldn't we be there?" Ven smiled in assurance. "You're our close friend, no matter what." Mai nodded firmly beside him. The blonde boy was actually saying something smart, for once.

"Yeah." Terra finally looked up, a slight smile stretching across his face. "You're right. Thanks, you two." He started moving his hand to touch his armor piece, when a feeling of panic hit Mai. Somehow, she had a dark feeling about their future, mostly due to the premonition she had received back on the Land of Departure.

"Terra! Wait!" Mai rushed over and hugged him tightly, squeezing nearly all of the air out of him. "Take my Wayfinder. This way, I'll always be with you wherever you go." Releasing him, she reached into her pouch and pulled out her purple star pendant. He accepted it with an unfathomable expression on his face, then pocketed it.

"Thanks." The brunette's solemn exterior fell for a moment. "Here, you take mine. Next time we meet, let's all go home together, all right?"

"Yeah… We'll be seeing you around." Ventus said bravely, thumping his chest. "After all, best friends forever, right?"

Terra nodded, then let the armor cover his body. He took off to the Lanes Between with a small salute in their direction.

"Byeee!" Mai shouted, waving maniacally until the portal closed behind him. She drooped a bit at his departure, but then shook the worry off of her. This _would _be the awesome adventure she had planned for it to be, and the four of them _would _live happily ever after once this wild goose chase was over with. Mai would make certain of this.

"So…" Ven wandered over to her side. "What do we do now?"

"You know, I don't really have any ideas. However, I do think that we owe it to Aqua to tell her what happened just now."

"Oh, yeah!" The blonde boy smacked his forehead. "Duh! Let's go!"

Only when the two had left the courtyard did they realize that they had no idea where to go next. Quite simply, neither of them had been paying attention when Noelle had led them there. Mai had been too stressed thinking about Terra, and Ven had zoned out, thinking about the talk he and Mai needed to have. And Terra, of course.

"Well… I have no idea where to go from here." Mai sat down, already giving up. "I guess we'll just need to wait for Noelle again. Wonder where she went to…"

* * *

In an alleyway just around the corner, Noelle eavesdropped on the two friend's conversation. "Oh yeah, this should be good."

* * *

The two blondes sat next to each other, silence enveloping them like a thick blanket. Mai bit her lip and fumbled with her shoelaces, tying them and untying them repeatedly as something to do.

"So… I guess that while we wait, we can have that talk, right?" Mai looked at him blankly.

"What talk?"

"The one we've been holding off since the Dwarf Woodlands." Ven deadpanned. "And the same one I mentioned an hour ago."

"Oh… That one." Somehow, Mai felt reluctant to delve into her feelings about him. Either things would work out perfectly, or they would go horribly wrong. Whatever she said could potentially impact the future of their relationship, and which direction it led to. Their destiny was in her hands.

Okay, so maybe she was being a little overdramatic, but it really did seem to be the most important moment in her life at the current time. "Well… where to start…"

"The beginning's always the best place." Ventus laughed, a bit nervously in her opinion.

"So cliché." Mai muttered before continuing on. "Okay, the beginning it is. I'll just start off with when I first felt something a little more than friendship towards you." Taking a deep breath, she explained the cooking catastrophe back on their home world, and how when she had looked into his eyes, her heart had skipped a beat.

"That's when, I think, I may have fallen for you. A bit. Sort of. Ish." Mai rambled in broken English. She didn't want Ven to think she was too gushy and lovesick over him. No, that would only give off the wrong impression.

Her face heated up as the silence between them grew, and as Ventus continued to watch her face closely. "What?" She snapped, wanting the tension to end. "I spilled my heart out, now it's your turn!"

"What?" Ventus pushed himself against the wall, tensing up at her expectant glance.

"Go on." She moved closer to him, her heart pounding like a hummingbird's in her chest.

"I guess it's always been more than friendship for me." Ventus looked up at the sky, lost in thought. "Ever since I woke up for the first time in the Land of Departure and saw your face in front of mine, it's like our hearts became connected."

Closing her eyes, Mai remembered that moment from what seemed so long ago.

* * *

_ For a week now, Mai had been sitting vigil at Ventus' bedside, patiently waiting for his consciousness to return. She had not wavered in her vow, nor did she plan to anytime soon._

_ Aqua had been bringing her food and water throughout her duration in the room, and Mai had only gotten up to shower three times so far. As of that moment, her body odor was pretty disgusting. _Maybe I should go wash again… _Mai thought, leaning onto the cushion of Ven's bed._

_ "Will you ever wake up?" Mai scowled, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "What does it take? A feast? A declaration of love? What in the worlds could you want?"_

_ As expected, she received no response. After another minute passed by, Mai resorted to poking him repeatedly on the cheek. "Please wake up." She pleaded as she stared at his peaceful expression. "You have friends waiting for you. _I'm _waiting for you."_

_ Behind his eyelids, there was a small movement, barely detectable. Mai jackknifed to her feet and let out a squeal. "He's waking up! Master Eraqus, Terra, Aqua! He's finally waking up!"_

_ Baby blue eyes opened slowly, blinking at the sudden closeness of an overexcited blonde girl leaning over him. "Welcome to the Land of Departure." Mai smiled down warmly at her ward. "Welcome home."_

_ A smile spread across Ven's face. Home._

* * *

Mai reopened her eyes. "Yeah… I remember that. Man, was I dedicated."

"What do you mean?" Ventus asked, confused.

_Crap… _Mai inwardly berated herself. _Now I'll seem like some kind of crazed fan-girl… _"Isort-ofwaitedatyourbedsideforaweekuntilyouwokeup ." She rushed out. Luckily, Ven knew her well enough to decipher what she said.

"Maybe _you _were the one who started the connection." Ventus turned towards her. "That must have taken some real dedication. I guess… our destinies must be intertwined."

"Is that a bad thing?" Mai inquired worriedly.

"No… It's definitely not." The two fell into another long period of quiet.

"So what does this mean for us? I like you, you like me, our hearts are connected, we'll be together for a while…" Mai trailed off hopefully.

"I guess it means…" Ventus also trailed off.

At this point, Noelle let out a moan of frustration, revealing her hiding spot. Jumping out, she stomped over to the blondes with a certain intention in mind. "It means you two are the most moronic people I've ever met. Get on with it!"

With that, she rammed into Ventus with an enormous smirk on her face. The boy, who had been standing next to his fellow blonde, lost his balance and fell onto a surprised Mai. The two fell to the ground as if in slow motion, and Ven's lips crashed onto Mai's.

_Holy mother of God. Is this actually happening? _Mai melted beneath his touch, succumbing to her heart's desire. His lips tasted sweet, like a mixture of hazelnuts and marshmallows, blended together to make a perfect concoction. Mai let her eyes fall shut as she enjoyed the moment. After all, it wasn't every day that a girl's dreams came true.

The kiss seemed to last for a lifetime, and yet, it still didn't feel long enough. Finally, when they both needed to breathe, they broke apart with loud gasps and stared into each other's eyes.

"Wow…" Ven was the first to talk.

"Yeah…" Mai laughed breathlessly. "You can say that again…"

"Oh yeah, you're welcome." Noelle snickered, flipping her hair. "All in a day's work. Let's get moving, lovebirds. Don't you have a friend to find?" The two blondes blushed maroon and stammered incomprehensively. "Just follow me." Noelle turned and walked away, facepalming. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Mai looked at Ven. Ven looked at Mai. At the same time, they reached for each other's hands and followed the brunette away. Nothing more needed to be said.

* * *

"There she is." Noelle pointed out the bluenette in the center of the courtyard. "Though I don't know why you'd wanna be talking with her after what she said. Your choice, I guess."

Mai squeezed Ven's hand once and they exchanged nods. "Aqua!"

The older keyblade wielder turned at the sound of her two friend's voices. Immediately, her eyes shot to their connected hands and a small smile snuck across her face. "Mai! Ven! Took you long enough."

"What do you mean?" Mai tilted her head.

"Never mind. Were you able to find him?"

"Yeah…" Ven started off.

"But he's gone." Mai finished.

Aqua's face fell. "Right. Then I can't stay here."

"Mmhm! You gotta go apologize to Terra." Mai nodded to punctuate her statement. Ventus only shook his head at her antics.

"Let us go with you, Aqua. You need friends by your side."

"No, Ven. You two do as I say and go home. Please." She added hastily at the death threat Mai sent her with her eyes.

Ventus hung his head. "Why won't you let us come?"

"Yeah, what did we ever do to you, miss high-and-mighty Keyblade Master?" Mai put her hands on her hips. "All we've ever wanted to do is to keep our group together!"

"I'm sorry… But I don't want to put you in harm's way." Aqua clapped a hand on both of their shoulders. "You understand?"

"No, I certainly don't!" Mai snarled, barely managing to rein her fury in. "You just go on ahead off on your lonesome again! Ven and I are fine on our own. C'mon, Ventus. Let's go." She led her somewhat-boyfriend away, holding back hot tears of anger. What right did Aqua have to decide what they were and weren't supposed to do?

"See you later, Aqua. Good luck." Ventus said woefully as the two departed. Aqua felt a single tear run down her cheek and brushed it off right away. The shivering orb clung to her finger, as if it were its only lifeline.

"I guess this is what it feels like… to lose a friend." The bluenette gently touched her armor and let it clad her body. "Goodbye, Mai, Ven. I'll make things right again."

* * *

Still as pissed off as ever, Mai let out a shriek of annoyance when she stubbed her toe on a step. "Stupid staircase."

Ven, on the other hand, was lost in memory. He was reminiscing about better times, specifically the one when Terra had given Ven his practice keyblade. At that moment, he had felt on top of the world. But now… Ven let out a bitter laugh. Look how far he'd come down. At least he had Mai by his side. He knew that she would never purposely leave him again. Ven's eyebrows creased. Unless he did something stupid again.

Now, he held out the wooden weapon that Terra had passed down to him. The keyblade's former wielder's name was still carved into the handle, an eternal reminder of the friendship that Ven and Terra shared. Would things ever be the same again?

"Hey…" Mai sat down next to him. The three had returned to the courtyard a few minutes earlier, only to have Noelle run off somewhere again. They were used to it by now, so they just accepted her random departure. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Ventus attempted to smile, but it turned into more of a grimace. "You?"

"I think so. Today's just been stressful, hasn't it? Even more so than the one at the Castle of Dreams." She joked, trying to lift the mood. "You were so small!"

"I guess I was pretty small, wasn't I?"

The duo relaxed against each other, glad that they were ending on a lighter note. Mai's head nestled into his shoulder, and Ven wrapped an arm around the girl. Before they knew it, exhaustion took over their bodies and the two fell asleep with hopes that the next day would bring new opportunities on its horizon.

* * *

**_You know, I feel like Mai's turning out to be really bipolar. I didn't mean for that to happen. Do you guys think she's too Mary Sue?_**

**_Oh, and I used your suggestion, Neusuada! Hope it turned out pretty well. Did you guys like this chapter? A lot of drama went on, but it's Radiant Garden; the capitol of sadness. Seriously._**

**_Please review! Thank you!_**

**_- SoraMaiDay_**


	16. Chapter 15: Rude Awakenings

**_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix._**

**_ Here's the next chapter! Anyone else sad about Cory Monteith's death? I've been having a Glee marathon the past few days… That's why I haven't uploaded in a while XD_**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Chapter 15: Rude Awakenings_**

****The trio of street rats stood in front of the slumbering couple uncertainly.

"What do we do?" Lea asked, whispering. "I feel bad waking them up, but this is a pretty bad neighborhood to be sleeping in. Lots of crime and stuff…"

Isa nodded. "We should wake them up. Noelle, you can go ahead."

"Gladly." She rubbed her hands together evilly. "Lemme just get a bucket of water…"

* * *

Mai awoke to the feeling of someone shaking her roughly. "Wake up, raspberry! Quick, before Noelle gets back with that bucket!"

She yawned and blinked sleepily. "Bucket…? What bucket?" The thought suddenly registered with her half-asleep mind. "Water!" Mai saw Noelle sneaking down the staircase out of the corner of her eye. "Ven! Ven, wake up! Now!" She shook him back and forth repeatedly, taking fearful glances back behind her. Noelle had noticed that they were awake, but that only seemed to fuel her speed.

"Maybe you should kiss prince Ven-Ven to awaken him from his slumber." Lea cooed. Beside him, Isa snickered.

Mai shrugged. "Eh, sure. Why not?" Leaning in, she gently touched her nose against his. Ven's eyes opened blearily and then widened in surprise when he felt Mai's lips press against his. She loved to shock people, and the looks of alarm and disgust spreading across the two boys' faces was most definitely worth it.

She broke away from her somewhat-boyfriend a bit mournfully. "Hey, sleepyhead. Get up, now."

"What?" Ven said dazedly. He hadn't been expecting that… But it had been an amazing thing to wake up to. _Really_ amazing.

Mai rolled her eyes and pulled Ven to his feet, then pushed him aside. By that point, Noelle had come to a foot away from them and was grinning maniacally. "I'm coming to get you!" She crooned.

"Ven, move it!" Mai snapped a finger in front of his face, this time fully snapping him out of his reverie.

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' " Mai repeated mockingly. "Follow my lead."

The two maneuvered themselves in front of Lea and Isa, just in case their plan didn't work. "C'mon, Noelle! We're waiting to be doused!"

Noelle eyed them suspiciously, then shrugged. With a grunt, the brunette tossed the buckets contents over the blondes.

"Fire!" Ven and Mai shouted at the right moment and instantly evaporated the liquid. Noelle gaped, dropping the bucket on the stone with a loud clang.

"H-how? How the heck did you do that?" Lea closed Noelle's mouth.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too." Isa crossed his arms. "It's not every day you see someone make fire appear out of nowhere."

Mai and Ven looked at each other secretly, winking at one another. "I'm afraid that's classified information." Ventus joked, intertwining his fingers with Mai's. A smile spread uncontrollably on her face at the unexpected contact.

"Yeah… 'fraid I can't spill." Mai shrugged.

"Fine." Lea huffed in jealousy. It was his dream to be able to conjure fire, due to his extreme pyromania. Maybe someday it could become a reality. Those two blondes were living proof.

"Anyways… Why did you wake us up again?" Ventus yawned, putting his hands behind his head to accentuate his point.

The three Radiant Garden friends exchanged a glance. "This courtyard isn't exactly the best place to spend the night. Why don't you two come to a safer place to sleep?"

"Eh, sure. Where exactly are we going, then? Any chance of grub?" The five headed off up the stairs.

"Oh, Mai. Always thinking about your stomach." Ventus laughed. "But I'm hungry too. I'm pretty sure we haven't eaten in at least a day and a half."

_I guess that's right… _Mai mused. _We ate at the Castle of Dreams, but then I ran off, and then there was all that drama here. _Her belly let out a grumble.

"I bet you're even more starved than I am, Ven." She twisted her neck to face him. "Because you were a _lot _smaller the last time we ate." The two shared a smile as they remembered the strange experience.

Noelle coughed to interrupt their little inside joke. "We're here."

Mai looked over to see the very same restaurant they had stolen from before. "Are you serious? I am NOT stealing from this place again." Ventus gave her a strange look, but didn't go any further into it. Once again, Mai was too unpredictable.

"Oh, relax." Lea twirled something around his finger. "We got the keys to this joint. Let's cook us up some crepes."

* * *

_Thirty minutes later…_

The scent of toasted onions and steamed turkey wafted from the platter in front of her. The crepe was filled with melted mozzerella cheese, smoked turkey meat, sweet onions, pesto, and perfectly ripened tomatoes. All the ingredients were of the highest quality, due to the restaurant having a four-star rating.

Drool dripped down Mai's chin and she quickly wiped it off with the back of her hand. No one noticed, though, because they were all too focused on their own food. Isa had turned out to be a surprisingly good cook after he had taken over from Lea's disastrous attempts. Why had any of them given that pyro a chance at cooking?

"Can I eat now?" Noelle fidgeted impatiently in her chair, her eyes darting between her crepe and her fork.

"Not yet. I still need to make mine." Isa sprinkled chunks of sausage in the crepe in front of him. "Okay, that's the last one."

"_Now _can we eat?" Ven begged, fork in hand.

"Go ahead." Isa sighed. Mai and Ven tore into their food like rabid animals, scattering crumbs all over the table. A single piece of onion fell on Lea's nose and it seemed to infuriate him.

"That's it!" Lea slammed his hands on the table. "Loverboy, raspberry, chill out! You're only eating about half of your crepes, the way you're devouring it!"

Mai paused. "Sorry. Can't talk. Eating." She stuffed her face back in the plate, licking every last morsel off of it.

"Ha!" Ventus fell back in his chair triumphantly. "Beat you!" He let out a large burp.

"Barely." Mai scoffed, flipping her hair.

"Guys, just stop!" Noelle clinked her fork on her plate in annoyance. "Since when did this become a competition?"

"I don't really know." Ventus admitted.

"It's just how things always are with us." Mai pushed her plate away. "Just like how you and Lea always banter and leave Isa out. It's just natural, right?"

The bluenette turned his head away awkwardly, a tinge of pink dusting his cheeks. It felt nice to be defended…

Ven's eyes narrowed at his reaction. How much had he missed since Mai ran away on the Enchanted Dominion? However, he brushed his petty jealousy away. He was probably imagining it.

Oblivious to Ven's thoughts, Mai smirked at Isa's red face. "Aw… Are you blushing, Isa?"

"Sh-shut up!" Isa mumbled, focusing his concentration on eating.

"Hey!" Ventus blurted out. "Don't tell my girlfriend to shut up!" Mai quickly gathered everyone's dishes in order to hide her maroon face. _That was so sweet…_ She busied herself with scrubbing a particularly hard lump of cheese off of the plate.

"Oooh, touchy, touchy." Lea waggled a finger. "Never pinned you as the type to be overprotective, loverboy." He paused. "Wait, no. Actually, I did."

Noelle sighed. "Oh, Lea. It's their relationship, leave them alone."

"Thank you!" The couple seethed. There was no more conversation for a few minutes, and only the sound of dishes clanging could be heard. Finally, Isa came up with the best suggestion she had heard all night.

"I'm tired. Let's hit the hay."

"Where at?" Mai covered her mouth to hide a yawn. She was ready to collapse at any second.

Stretching, Noelle leaned back in her chair. "Well… We might as well crash here. Sound good?"

The four other friends shrugged. "Will we get caught?" Ventus inquired nervously.

"Not as long as we get out of here before the place opens." Lea got out of his chair and dug through a cupboard. "There should be some blankets somewhere around here. Just in case of emergency, you know."

They watched as Lea investigated every storage area in vain. He came back to them with a sheepish look on his face. "Guess there aren't any."

Sadly, at the time, it was winter. There was no heating system in the building, and even if there was one, none of them knew how to work it. They all resigned themselves to a night of freezing cold air, and huddled up in groups. Of course, Mai and Ven instantly cuddled next to each other, leaving the other three to figure out their situation.

Noelle shot Lea a yearning look, which Isa intercepted. "Since you two obviously want to sleep with each other, go ahead. I'll go and sleep by the oven. It'll still be warm."

The bluenette felt a wave of loneliness sweep over him as he went over to the hot machine. He couldn't help but feel like a third wheel all the time, ever since romantic feelings had sprung up between Lea and Noelle. Admittedly, when Mai had come to Radiant Garden, he couldn't help but let a bit of hope seep through his usually cool exterior. He had thought that maybe, just maybe, they could pair up and everything would be right again. It wasn't that he actually liked Mai romantically, but he did like the idea of being included in everything again. It hurt his heart to think of all the times he had been left behind in their figurative dust.

"Maybe someday, this will all change…" Isa muttered, curling up in a ball. "I'll show them that I'm strong." He let his mind succumb to the darkness of sleep.

**(And that's how I figure that Isa starts hanging out with Ansem's apprentices.)**

* * *

"Up, up, up! We gotta get moving, pronto!" Mai slapped Lea's cheeks rapidly. "The restaurant opens in fifteen minutes!"

"Woah, déjà vu." Ven stumbled to his feet; the first victim of the blonde's hands. "Didn't this just happen yesterday?"

"I feel your pain." Lea groaned, sitting up tiredly. "C'mon, Noelle. Let's get out of here."

The brunette only moaned softly, rolling over on her side. "No-noes…" Lea simpered. "Get your butt out of bed before we get chased out by the gun dude again!"

Noelle gave him the evil eye as she clambered out the door, causing the pyro to shudder. He knew that she would get revenge on him later.

Lea began heading out the door as well, when he felt like he was forgetting something. Lo and behold, when he turned back around, Isa was still resting by the oven. "I'm such a jerk!" Lea smacked his head. "How could I have forgotten my best friend?" He hurriedly ran over to Isa and tugged on his blue hair. "Hey, Isa! Wake up!"

To Lea's astonishment, Isa was already awake, and he had seen his best friend almost forget about him. "I'm awake. Let's move." The bluenette left the shop, leaving his friend to trail after him guiltily.

The two boys reached the rest of the group in the courtyard after a few minutes. "Why do we always end up here?" Ven questioned curiously. "This must be at least the fifth time we've been in this place."

"Who knows? And, more importantly, who cares?" Noelle waved a hand. "Now, what're your plans for the rest of the day?"

Ventus and Mai considered the question. Neither of them had decided when they should leave Radiant Garden, but they both knew that it would be very hard to say goodbye after meeting such good friends there. "We don't really have any…" Mai fiddled with her gloves. "But I'm down for staying here until evening comes. What about you, Ven?"

"Sure." There wasn't much else they could do. Going home was out of the question and only the unknown rested ahead of them. It was best to enjoy their little vacation while it lasted.

With a sneaky smile, Lea took two Frisbees from somewhere, causing Mai to give him a strange look. "In that case, why don't we spar a bit? You and me, man to man."

Noelle sighed in exasperation. "Oh, brother. Here we go again…"

The blonde boy hesitated; he didn't want to hurt his new friend. He and Mai had been training with Master Eraqus for ages, so who knew the amount of damage he could inflict on the pyro?

Lea, seeing Ven's moment of weakness, swooped in for the kill. "What? You scared of losing?" He strutted forwards confidently. "I guess I _am _pretty terrifying."

Snorting, Mai quickly threw out a retort. "In your dreams, hotshot. Ven can beat your butt anytime, right, Venny?"

_And… She's tossed me to the sharks. There's no going back now, unless I want to lose some manly pride. Curse her and her womanly wiles… _Ventus hid a groan. He was still sore from the day before, but there was no avoiding the battle. "You know it!" He fist pumped the air, hiding his disappointment. "Bring it on!"

Within three seconds, Ventus' practice keyblade was in his hand; ready to go. Within five seconds, he was sprinting towards the pyro and landing a strike on his shoulder. Just in the nick of time, Lea braced a Frisbee against his arm to block the incoming hit. The force of the keyblade pushed the redhead back a foot or two, causing beads of sweat to break out across his forehead. "Not bad… blondie…" Lea panted with a maniacal smile. "You still play with toy swords? That's…. cute." Ven's eyes narrowed as he leapt away. That stupid redhead would pay…

Turning her attention away from the fight, Mai walked over to the stairs where Isa was sitting. She had seen Ven attack the Unversed so many times before, that seeing yet another battle was boring her to death. Not only that, but the bluenette seemed to have tensed shoulders and a stony expression. Placing herself down lightly on the step above him, Mai leaned forward to talk to her sullen friend. "Hey, why the long face?"

"It's nothing." Isa said dismissively. "You don't need to concern yourself with my problems."

Mai was taken aback. "Heck, yes, I do! You're my friend, Isa. I'll always be here for you, so tell me what's up!" He turned his head away. "Don't you dare ignore me, moonboy!" Mai grabbed his chin forcefully and tugged it to face her. Many emotions swam in his blue eyes, mainly those of hurt and anger. "Tell. Me. Now."

"It's. Nothing." Isa gritted out, wrenching his head away. "I just hate relationships, that's all."

Realization dawned on the blonde girl. "You feel like a fifth wheel, don't you? That's understandable. We've all felt like that at some point."

"You don't understand!" He snarled, just like an abused animal. "When you came, I thought that things would be different, and that they would change." Isa let his head fall. "I thought that maybe, you could help me fit in again. But, I was wrong to have such foolish delusions. Things'll never be the way they were before."

Mai felt her heart stutter in shock. "Isa… I don't know what to say…. I'm so sorry."

"I don't need your pity." He stated emotionlessly. "But thanks anyway." Dusting his pants, Isa got up and walked off somewhere, presumably to be alone for a while.

Not knowing how to reply, or how to feel, Mai focused her attention on the two fighting boys in front of her. They seemed to be evenly matched, but she could tell that Lea was beginning to tire out. He was entirely on the defensive now and was barely managing to block each swing.

Finally, Lea collapsed backwards and fell on the ground dramatically, his chest heaving for breath. Although everyone could see how much of a toll Ventus had taken on him, he kept up a cocky front. "You… had enough? 'Cause I'm willing to call it a draw if you are."

Ventus snickered. "Huh? Right…"

"Well, from where I stood," Noelle interrupted, "the only thing you managed to do was create a big 'L' on your forehead for 'loser,' 'lame,' 'laughable'…" She cut herself off confusedly. "Wait… Isn't this usually where Isa comes in? Where'd he go?"

Lea rolled his eyes. "Who knows? But hey, isn't this the part where you cheer me up or something?"

"Oh, so you mean I was supposed to lie." Noelle crossed her arms smugly. Mai crossed over to where the three were standing. _I hope Isa's going to be okay…_

Looking over to Mai expectantly for her usual sarcastic comments, Lea noticed that she had a despondent expression. "Hey, raspberry! What's wrong? Not psyched about your boyfriend's obvious victory?"

This statement caused Ven to glance at Mai as well. "Do you know something about Isa that we don't?" The girl flinched at how much Ventus could read her mind.

"No!" She shot back defensively. "I'm fine. He's fine. We're BOTH perfectly fine, thank you." Of course, Isa wasn't so 'fine' at the moment, but Mai was sure that he would've wanted her to speak positively for his wellbeing.

"O-kayyyy…" Noelle drew out the second syllable. "Wonder where he could've gone…"

Suddenly, Lea slapped his head. "Crap! Noelle, we need to go! We have a meeting with the Radiant Garden committee, remember?"

Noelle's eyes grew wide. "That's right! That must be where Isa went off to. It starts soon!" She faced the two confused blondes regretfully. "I'm sorry, but this is where we say goodbye. We WILL see you around."

"Okay." Mai tilted her head upwards to prevent tears from spilling out. "For sure." Ventus squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"After all, we're friends now." Lea tapped his head. "Got it memorized?"

Ventus laughed. "Yeah. We'll miss you guys. Say goodbye to Isa for us, okay?"

"Sure thing." Noelle nodded, walking away. She only halted at the sound of Mai's call.

"Wait!" The brunette turned around, only to collide with Mai in a huge hug. Warmth spread throughout her body. Somehow, the feeling felt familiar…

"See you later." Mai backed away, then gave Lea a hug as well. "Have a good meeting thingy."

The pyro and the brunette smiled widely, waved one last time, then departed into one of the many streets of Radiant Garden. Mai sniffled. She never had liked goodbyes.

* * *

**_Okay, hope you enjoyed! I'll be gone for a week, so don't expect any updates soon!_**

**_- SoraMaiDay_**


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